Explainer: How worried should we be about the monkeypox health emergency?

SIGA Technologies

04/08/2022 22:21

Aug 4 (Reuters) - The United States declared the monkeypox
outbreak a public health emergency, a move that may increase
health agency access to funds and allow the government new
avenues for increasing production and use of existing vaccines.
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    The move follows the declaration by the World Health
Organization in July. A Reuters tally has counted more than
25,800 cases globally and three countries outside of Africa have
reported deaths. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2Z408L
    
    HOW DANGEROUS IS IT?
    First identified in monkeys, the virus is transmitted
chiefly through close contact with an infected person. It
typically causes mild symptoms including fever, rash, swollen
lymph nodes and pus-filled skin lesions. Severe cases can occur
though people tend to recover within two to four weeks,
according to the WHO.  
    Anyone can spread the virus, but the current outbreak
outside of Africa is concentrated almost exclusively among men
who have sex with men.
    Monkeypox spreads primarily via intimate skin-to-skin
contact, usually with someone who has an active rash, as well as
via contact with contaminated clothes or bedding. It is not as
easily transmitted as the SARS-CoV-2 virus that spurred the
COVID-19 pandemic. 
        
    WHY IS IT AN EMERGENCY?
    The United States hopes the public health emergency
declaration will help it contain the disease before it becomes
endemic. This status unleashes funding and gives health agencies
regulatory flexibility that could help increase access to
vaccines and treatments.
    Health officials from several countries had urged the WHO to
label monkeypox a public health emergency of international
concern due to the quick escalation of cases and concerns it may
become endemic in more countries. 
    The emergency declaration aims to spur global action and
collaboration on everything from testing to the production and
distribution of vaccines and treatments. 
    The fatality rate in preceding monkeypox outbreaks in Africa
of the strain currently spreading has been around 1%, but so far
this outbreak appears to be less lethal in the non-endemic
countries, many of which have stronger healthcare
infrastructure. Until this year, the viral disease has rarely
spread outside Africa where it is endemic. 
    Scientists are trying to determine what caused the initial
cases and if the virus has changed. Increased global travel as
well as climate change have generally accelerated the emergence
and spread of viruses, experts say.
    Infectious disease experts say that years of financial
neglect has left sexual health clinics on the frontline of the
current monkeypox response ill-prepared to curb further spread.
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    PROTECTIVE MEASURES 
    Health officials say that people should avoid close personal
contact with someone who has a illness presenting with a
distinctive rash or who is otherwise unwell. People who suspect
they have monkeypox should isolate and seek medical care.
    Health officials have also been offering monkeypox vaccines
to high-risk individuals and those that have recently been in
close contact with an infected person. 
    Danish company Bavarian Nordic  BAVA.CO  has a vaccine that
goes by the brand name Jynneos, Imvamune or Imvanex - depending
on geography. It has U.S. and European approval for the
prevention of both smallpox and the closely related monkeypox. 
    An older vaccine, currently made by Emergent Biosolutions
 EBS.N , is called ACAM2000, but its uptake has been limited due
to a severe side-effect warning. 
    Bavarian Nordic says it can produce 30 million doses of its
vaccines - including the monkeypox one - each year, and has
tapped a U.S.-based contract manufacturer to increase monkeypox
vaccine capacity.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2Z60WP

    TREATMENT 
    Monkeypox symptoms often resolve on their own within weeks.
Patients may receive extra fluids and additional treatment for
secondary bacterial infections. 
    An antiviral agent called tecovirimat - branded as TPOXX and
made by SIGA Technologies  SIGA.O  - has U.S. and EU approval
for smallpox, while its European approval also includes
monkeypox and cowpox.

    <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
U.S. declares monkeypox outbreak a public health emergency   
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FACTBOX-Monkeypox cases and deaths around the world   
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 (Reporting by Natalie Grover in London, Michael Erman in New
Jersey and Caroline Humer in New York; Editing by Michele
Gershberg, William Maclean)
 ((michael.erman@thomsonreuters.com;))