Monkeypox — Enhancing public health preparedness for an emerging lethal human zoonotic epidemic threat in the wake of the smallpox post-eradication era

Human Monkeypox

“…The frequency and geographic distribution of human monkeypox cases have increased in recent years in a specific region of Africa ( Fig. 1), 8 and monkeypox has been recognized as an increasing public health threat, particularly in regions in West Africa where there is close interaction between humans and wild animal reservoirs and in particular where there is evidence that the infection attack rate is increasing. The clinical presentation of monkeypox is similar to that of smallpox 2 in terms of symptom onset, timing of rash occurrence, and rash distribution, 7 but generally less severe than smallpox in terms of complication rate, case fatality rate, and levels of scarification.…”

Diagnosis of Imported Monkeypox, Israel, 2018

“…The 2 clades, Congo-Basin and West African, each cause disease; the West African clade is considered to be less virulent and is associated with a lower mortality rate ( 3 ). Nevertheless, this clade is responsible for the largest documented monkeypox outbreak in West Africa (132 confirmed cases in Nigeria) ( 4 ). Human infection with monkeypox occurred in the United States in 2003, when imported animals from Africa infected pet prairie dogs ( 5 ).…”

Is Africa prepared for tackling the COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) epidemic. Lessons from past outbreaks, ongoing pan-African public health efforts, and implications for the future

“…Africa needs to continue its upward trajectory of activities so as to align public health resources, scientific expertise and experience, and political commitment so that any future infectious disease outbreaks can be stopped before they become an epidemic in Africa. Africa needs more investments into ONE-HEALTH collaborative activities across the continent in order to meet the challenges of current and future public health threats (Kock R,et al 2019;Petersen E et al, 2019;Talisuna AO et al, 2020;Hui DS et al, 2020;Zumla A et al, 2016). A whole new young generation of enthusiastic, committed and dedicated African public health workers, epidemiologists, researchers, healthcare workers and laboratory personnel have emerged over the past 5 years, and they need to be supported by security of funding to build their careers and sustain their take forward their research and training portfolios.…”