mpox

October 8, 2024 2:50 PM

One mpox case found in Uganda prison, official says

A case of mpox has been found in Nakasongola jail in central Uganda, a prison spokesperson said on Tuesday, adding that the patient had been isolated and was receiving treatment. The World Health Organization declared mpox a global public health emergency for the second time in two years in August, following an outbreak of the viral infection in neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo, which has spread to Burundi, Uganda and Rwanda. An outbreak of the disease at one of Uganda's overcrowded p...

September 27, 2024 10:57 AM

Centre issues advisory for states, UTs to create awareness on Mpox

The Union Health Ministry has issued an advisory for all states and union territories on the Mpox disease after India became the third non-African country to report a case of clade 1b Mpox infection recently. In the advisory dated September 26, the Department of Health and Family Welfare directed that all suspected Mpox cases be isolated, with strict infection prevention and control measures enforced. It has provided a list of laboratories operationalized for testing. The advisory includes cli...

September 15, 2024 12:44 PM

Uganda’s mpox caseload rises to ten – official

The number of mpox infections in Uganda has risen to ten and all of the patients have a strain of the virus, clade 1b, that is more transmissible between people, a health official said on Saturday. The country borders the Democratic Republic of Congo where the current outbreak began in January 2023, making Uganda a particular focus point for health officials. The first two cases in Uganda were confirmed in July. Henry Kyobe, who heads the government's mpox response effort, told Reuters the co...

September 13, 2024 3:57 PM

WHO clears Bavarian Nordic’s vaccine as first shot against mpox

The World Health Organization said on Friday it had cleared Bavarian Nordic's vaccine as the first shot against mpox. The approval, known as a pre-qualification, is an official list of medicines used as a benchmark for procurement by developing countries. "This first prequalification of a vaccine against mpox is an important step in our fight against the disease, both in the context of the current outbreaks in Africa, and in future," WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said. Mp...

September 9, 2024 8:55 PM

West African clade 2 Mpox case confirmed in India: Health Ministry

A man who recently returned from a country experiencing Mpox transmission has tested positive for the virus, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare announced on Monday. Laboratory tests confirmed the presence of the West African clade-2 Mpox virus in the individual, marking this as a travel-related case. In a statement, the Health Ministry emphasized that the case is isolated, akin to the 30 previous Mpox cases reported in India since July 2022. It also clarified that this instance is unrela...

September 9, 2024 3:18 PM

Health Ministry issues advisory on “Mpox” preparedness to states and UTs

The Union Health Ministry has issued an advisory to all states and union territories on precautionary measures for "Mpox," a disease declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern by the World Health Organization (WHO). India has yet to report any confirmed cases of Mpox. However, the advisory outlines key public health actions necessary to prevent potential cases or deaths. States and union territories have been urged to widely circulate the Ministry's "Guidelines for Management o...

September 2, 2024 5:25 PM

Mpox patients lack medicine, food, in east DR Congo hospital

Dozens of feverish patients lay on thin mattresses on the floor of a makeshift mpox isolation ward in east Democratic Republic of Congo, as overstretched hospital workers grappled with drug shortages and lack of space to accommodate the influx. Congo is the epicentre of an mpox outbreak that the World Health Organization declared to be a global public health emergency last month. Vaccines are set to arrive within days to fight the new strain of the virus, while Congo's President Felix Tshiseke...

August 27, 2024 1:39 PM

New mpox strain is changing fast; African scientists are ‘working blindly’ to respond

Scientists studying the new mpox strain that has spread out of Democratic Republic of Congo say the virus is changing faster than expected and often in areas where experts lack the funding and equipment to properly track it. According to scientists in Africa, Europe, and the United States, the situation is complicated by multiple unknowns about the virus, including its severity and modes of transmission, which complicates the response efforts. Mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, has been a publ...

August 24, 2024 1:42 PM

Uganda confirms two more cases of mpox

Uganda has confirmed two more mpox virus infections, bringing the number of cases in the east African country to four, according to the health ministry. The two new patients were infected with the clade 1b strain of the virus, health ministry director general of health services Henry Mwebesa told Reuters, a new offshoot that has triggered global concern. The World Health Organization declared the recent outbreak of the disease a public health emergency after the new variant, which appears to s...

September 16, 2024 4:02 PM

India heightens alert as Mpox cases rise globally, meeting held with health experts

The central government has directed airport, ports and border authorities to remain vigilant in response to the global rise in Mpox cases, according to sources. Official sources told, "We have alerted airports, ports and borders with Bangladesh and Pakistan. Three central hospitals will have facilities for isolation like Safdarjung hospital, Ram Manohar Lohia hospital and Lady Hardinge." As per sources, the Union Health Ministry held meetings with experts on the new virus scare which "is differ...