Listen to Story The World Health Organisation (WHO)'s emergency committee meeting has been scheduled to discuss the ongoing mpox outbreak that has affected 116 countries so far. In a recent report, the health agency classified it as an "acute" Grade 3 emergency, the highest level of classification, indicating the need for immediate and urgent attention. Since its onset in 2022, the outbreak has persisted, with a recent surge in cases reported globally.
It is spreading across West, Central, and East African countries, with cases also emerging in the Americas and Europe. In 2022, India's first confirmed case of mpox was reported in Kerala in a 35-year-old patient. WHAT IS MPOX? Mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, is a viral disease caused by the mpox virus, which belongs to the Orthopoxvirus genus.
The disease was first identified in monkeys in 1958, in Denmark, hence its original name , but it primarily affects rodents and other small mammals. This rare zoonotic disease (transferred from animal to humans) stems from Poxviridae family, whose viruses have also caused other diseases like smallpox, cowpox, vaccinia and more. The disease was first identified in monkeys in 1958, in Denmark, hence its original name, but it primarily affects rodents and other small mammals.
(Photo: Getty Images) Presently, there are two clades, or genetic groups, of mpox: Clade I, predominantly found in Central and East Africa, and Clade II, which is associated with more cases in West Africa. The first.