Rabat – With the current spread of the monkeypox virus in Europe, some are worried and bracing themselves for more lockdowns and health measures as the world recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic which crippled the global economy for two years.
Expert opinions on the risk have called for carefulness, but warned against panic and stigmatization. While some experts believe the epidemic is nothing to worry about due to the virus’ long existence in African countries, others are taking the view that there might be something more to this current spread.
Several European countries like Spain and the UK have recently reported cases of the virus, with some putting in place health measures and putting health services on alert.
With the world slowly exiting and recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic, many countries are on edge to contain any outbreak as soon as possible, but people are not eager to go into another lockdown with memories of the last one still fresh.
On Friday, Belgium became the first country to impose a mandatory 21-day quarantine on all patients with the virus, in an effort to contain its spread.
‘Not the next pandemic’
One reason many experts say the virus should be no cause for panic — not yet, at least — is that it’s by no means new. The virus was first discovered in the 1950s, with cases in humans being detected in the 80s.
Another reason is the rarity of human-to-human spread of the virus. Historically, the virus was predominantly contracted through contact with wild and dead animals.
But research has shown that while a patient with a primary case (someone who contracted it through the outbreak source) can transmit the virus to other humans, secondary cases are much less likely to infect others.
The mortality rate for the strain of the virus discovered in the UK and other European countries is also on the low side, with less than 1% of cases being fatal and most cases being mild and recovering in weeks.
Beyond that, vaccines for similar diseases like smallpox are assumed to be highly effective in protecting against monkeypox, although there hasn’t been research with a large enough sample size to provide anything robustly conclusive.
Other treatments such as tecovirimat are approved to treat monkeypox in countries like the US, with other methods like antibiotic therapy already being researched.
This all suggests that should the virus even pose a significant risk, treatments may already exist or be relatively close to being finalized.
Additionally, Africa’s Center for Disease Control reported that there were many outbreaks of the virus during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, all of which were successfully contained.
“We also expect that other outbreaks will come and we’ll handle it in the usual way,” Ahmed Ogwell Ouma, acting director of the Center, said during a news briefing.
Experts have also warned that panic can lead to stigmatization and hinder efforts to contain the disease and find treatments.
International organizations such as the UN and the World Health Organization have warned against stigmatizing Africans and LGBT communities amid the spread of the disease.
Although American and British health agencies reported the disease is spreading among homosexual men, the WHO asserted that all research points towards it spreading through general human contact, warning that stereotypes will only slow down the search for the origins and cures for the disease.
Racist stereotypes against Africans also bring back images of racist attacks against Asians during the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Not a usual spread
Although calls to avoid panic persist, some scientists do believe that there might be something different about this particular outbreak to warrant caution.
Some African scientists expressed surprise over the locations where the virus is spreading. Although outbreaks have been observed in the West before, they say it is unusual for it to spread among people with no connections to West and Central Africa.
“This is not the kind of spread we’ve seen in West Africa, so there may be something new happening in the West,” said Oyewale Tomori, a member of several WHO advisory boards.
The unusual spread is what has many on edge, with some fearing that it might be indicative of other issues that could call for more caution.
There are also worries about a more deadly strain of the virus, with a mortality rate of about 10%, cropping up. Although the strain has historically been confined to Africa, the current unusual spread suggests that the possibility is there for it to show up in Europe and the US.
Recent research from 2018 also suggests the human-to-human transmission of the virus could become more common. It also warns against mismanagement and mistreatment of the virus, which can go undetected or be dismissed.
Still, those same experts are calling for level heads to prevail. While precautions are good, panic and the spread of false information are once again more likely to do harm than good.
Research is currently still being conducted to determine the true nature of the new spread, the risk it poses, and viable treatments and precautions.
Morocco’s health ministry recently released a document outlining the country’s plans for dealing with the disease, saying that any cases should be immediately reported to local health authorities who will initiate investigations.
Read also: Ministry of Health Advises Caution Despite Low Covid-19 Transmission
With cases being detected in Spain and travel between Morocco and Europe finally picking up again, many suspect that it will only be a matter of time before the spread makes its way to Moroccan soil.
