WHO director assures that ‘mpox is not the new COVID’ even as Southeast Asian countries heighten prevention measures

SINGAPORE: A high official with the World Health Organization went on record to say that the outbreak of mpox, which the WHO declared a “public health emergency of international concern” on Aug 14, is not the new Covid-19.

Hans Kluge, WHO’s Regional Director for Europe, issued a statement on Tuesday (Aug 20) to say that the risk from mpox to the general population is “low”.

“We know how to control mpox – and in the European region – the steps needed to eliminate its transmission altogether,” Dr Kluge said. The WHO said that mpox would not require lockdowns in the same way that the Covid-19 pandemic did.

Dr Kluge noted that in 2022, officials would be able to contain the mpox outbreak in Europe because of behaviour changes, non-discriminatory public health action, and mpox vaccinations. 

He noted, however, that the disease was not fully quashed, and Europe is seeing around 100 new mpox clade 2 cases every month.

Mpox is an infectious disease caused by the monkeypox virus. Its common symptoms are a skin rash or lesions lasting two to four weeks, fever, headache, muscle aches, back pain, low energy, and swollen lymph nodes.

It can be transmitted through physical contact with an infected person, contaminated materials, or infected animals.

The illness has two variants, clade 2 and clade 1, which is considered to be more severe. Sweden is the first country outside Africa to see a clade 1 variant case, with the patient had travelled to an area affected by the virus.

In Singapore, the disease is unlikely to spread, infectious disease experts were quoted in The Straits Times (ST) as saying.

Professor Hsu Li Yang, an infectious diseases expert at the NUS Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health (SSHSPH), told ST, “There is a less explosive spread with mpox and it’s potentially containable, unlike Covid-19.”

On Aug 15, the Ministry of Health said that the immediate public health risk of the mpox outbreak was assessed to be low. Singapore’s healthcare system is able to diagnose and manage mpox infections.

Additionally, possible cases are being monitored, and travellers have been required to report mpox-related symptoms and travel history through the SG Arrival Card. 

Meanwhile, elsewhere in Southeast Asia, some countries are ramping up measures to prevent the spread of mpox.

Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia are increasing surveillance at international entry points, and healthcare personnel at public and private facilities in Malaysia are on the alert to report symptoms of the illness. /TISG

Read also: ISID President Paul Tambyah suggests there’s no need to worry about mpox