Health Minister Nísia Trindade said on Wednesday (14) that the ministry will create an Emergency Operations Committee to adopt measures to combat the spread of mpox, which has been worrying international authorities. Earlier, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared that the mpox scenario in Africa constitutes a public health emergency of international importance due to the risk of global spread and a potential new pandemic. This is the entity’s highest alert level. Despite this, according to the minister, this is a time for alert, but not alarm.
“We will establish an Emergency Operations Committee, involving the Ministry of Health, Anvisa [Agência Nacional de Vigilância Sanitária]councils of municipal and state health secretaries. We were already monitoring, we had a meeting of experts two weeks ago, since the cases began, and this possibility [de disseminação da doença]and we will analyze issues such as vaccines. There is no reason for alarm, but for alert”, I stated to journalists, at the Planalto Palace, after participating in a investment announcement in the healthcare industry.
According to the minister, the measures that should be adopted include the acquisition of diagnostic tests, alerts for travelers and updating of the contingency plan. Regarding vaccines, there is currently no forecast for mass immunization. Last year, immunization against the disease was carried out at a time of public health emergency of international importance, using doses released by Anvisa on a provisional basis. According to the minister, these doses were also used for scientific research.
The ministry’s assessment is that the new wave of the disease poses a low risk to Brazil at this time. Data from the ministry indicate that, in 2024, 709 cases of mpox were reported in Brazil and 16 deaths, the most recent being in April of last year. Globally, this year, cases have already surpassed the total recorded in 2023 and totaled more than 14 thousand, in addition to 524 deaths.
In May 2023, almost a week after changing the status of COVID-19, the WHO declared that the disease no longer constituted a public health emergency of international concern. In July 2022, the organization had declared an emergency status due to the outbreak of the disease in several countries.
Illness
MPOX is a viral zoonotic disease. Transmission to humans can occur through contact with infected wild animals, people infected with the virus, and contaminated materials. Symptoms generally include rashes or skin lesions, swollen lymph nodes, fever, body aches, headache, chills, and weakness.
The lesions may be flat or slightly raised, filled with clear or yellowish fluid, and may form crusts that dry and fall off. The number of lesions can range from a few to thousands. The rashes tend to be concentrated on the face, palms of the hands, and soles of the feet, but can occur anywhere on the body, including the mouth, eyes, genitals, and anus.
