‘Need Right Strategies in Right Groups’

It is a viral zoonotic disease (transmission from animals to humans), caused by monkeypox virus, a member of the Orthopoxvirus genus in the family Poxviridae.
It was first reported amongst humans in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1970.
It is mainly transmitted through direct contact with the blood, bodily fluids, or cutaneous or mucosal lesions of an infected animal.
Eating inadequately cooked meat of infected animals is also a risk factor.
Human-to-human transmission could be caused by skin lesions of an infected person, close contact with infected respiratory tract secretions or objects recently contaminated by patient fluids or lesion materials.
Its fatality rate is about 10% and is highly contagious.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations to spearhead the matters of global public health.
Established on April 7th, 1948, its headquarters is located in Geneva, Switzerland.
The World Health Assembly is the highest decision-making body of the WHO.
It reports to the Economic and Social Council in accordance with any agreement between the Organization and the United Nations.

The WHO has announced the ongoing monkeypox transmission as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC).

As per the International Health Regulations (IHR, 2005) a Public Health Emergency of International Concern is, “an extraordinary event which is determined to constitute a public health risk to other States through the international spread of disease and to potentially require a coordinated international response”.
This definition implies a situation that is:
Serious, sudden, unusual or unexpected;
Carries implications for public health beyond the affected State’s national border; and
May require immediate international action.

Source The Hindu

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