MIAMI, United States. – Francisco Durán García, national director of Epidemiology of the Ministry of Public Health (MINSAP) of Cuba, reported this Thursday that, currently, there are no reported cases of monkeypox (mpox) on the Island.
In 2022, eight cases of the disease were identified and controlled in the largest of the Antilles, according to data from MINSAP.
On August 15, the Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, declared Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) due to the alarming increase in MPOX cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and other African countries.
The decision, taken under the International Health Regulations (IHR) of 2005, responds to growing concern about the spread of the virus on the African continent and its potential to spread to other regions of the world.
The trigger for this declaration was the emergence of a new clade of the virus, identified as 1b, which has been spreading rapidly in eastern DRC, mainly through sexual networks. According to WHO, in the past month, more than 100 cases of this clade have been confirmed in countries neighbouring the DRC, including Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda, which had not previously reported cases of mpox.
“The emergence of a new clade of mpox, its rapid spread in eastern DRC and the reporting of cases in several neighbouring countries are of great concern,” He stated Ghebreyesus.
Experts believe that the current health situation could trigger a global crisis similar to that of 2022, when there was an international outbreak of the disease.
For his part, Durán García recalled on Thursday that the transmission of the disease occurs through direct or indirect contact with blood, bodily fluids or skin lesions.
He also pointed out that it is spread through sexual relations. However, he added, unlike other sexually transmitted infections, it is not prevented solely by the use of condoms, as it is also transmitted through direct physical contact.
Regarding symptoms, he specified that it usually begins with fever, muscle aches, headaches, among others, including a rash on the skin of the hands, soles of the feet, groin and genital area.
Since its detection in humans in 1970 in the DRC, the disease has been endemic in several countries on the African continent. However, the recent increase in cases and the emergence of new strains have raised global concern. In 2022, a multi-country outbreak led to the first declaration of a Public Health Emergency of International Concern related to mpox, which was finally withdrawn in May 2023 following a sustained decline in cases worldwide.
