The declaration of mpox as a public health emergency of international concern following years of precautions against COVID-19 has many people worried. Here are some answers from Canadian infectious disease specialists and public health authorities on what this all means. On Aug.
14, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director general of the World Health Organization, made the declaration. He said a coordinated international response is essential to stop the outbreak in Congo, and to save lives, after the mpox virus surged across several African countries.
For governments around the world, the declaration represents a rallying cry to better monitor and respond to the threat by preventing, diagnosing and treating the infection. But an individual's risk of contracting mpox, which causes painful rashes, varies. People with mpox can also experience fever, enlarged lymph nodes, muscle aches, headaches, and respiratory symptoms.
Mpox is caused by a virus in the same family as smallpox, a virus that was declared eradicated in 1980. Am I at risk of getting mpox? Dr. Lynora Saxinger, an infectious diseases physician at the University of Alberta, said so far a lot of the spread of mpox has been through close physical contact, skin to skin, including through sexual activities.
"This wouldn't be something like walking past someone on the subway," Saxinger said. Sylvie Nyota, 14, applies medication to her skin as she undergoes treatment against mpox near Goma, Congo, on Aug. 19.
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