Inadequate Readiness to Address the Mpox Threat

The first occurrence of Mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, occurred in June 2023 in an unnamed foreign visitor to Nepal. The monkeypox virus, a member of the genus Orthopoxvirus, is the source of Mpox, a viral disease that affects both people and animals. On December 20 and 24, 2024, the second and third Mpox cases were found, respectively. The third example involved a 44-year-old man, whereas the second case was a 36-year-old. They were both back from Saudi Arabia. After entering Nepal, the patients reported their symptoms to the health authorities, which is how all three cases were discovered.

Mpox was initially discovered in 1958 in laboratory monkeys that were sent from Singapore to Denmark for study, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). In 1970, a nine-month-old infant in the Democratic Republic of the Congo was the first human case to be documented. In Central, East, and West Africa, mpox gradually spread after smallpox was eradicated in 1980. In 2003, there was a Mpox outbreak in the United States of America that was connected to imported wild animals. In Congo, hundreds of cases have been reported per year since 2005. Since its resurgence in Nigeria in 2017, Mpox has continued to spread among Nigerians and visitors to other countries. In 2021 and 2022, reports of suspected and confirmed instances were made in several nations.

An Mpox outbreak that surfaced unexpectedly and quickly expanded throughout Europe, the Americas, and all six WHO regions occurred in May 2022. Gay, bisexual, and other males who have sex with men have been the main victims of the worldwide outbreak, which has transmitted from person to person through sexual networks.

On August 14, 2024, the WHO deemed the Mpox outbreak a public health emergency of international concern. The fact that Nepali authorities are finding it difficult to put policies in place to diagnose Mpox, let alone stop its spread, is concerning, even though the three cases that have been reported in Nepal appear to be quite rare. According to a Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP) representative cited in a front-page news article in this daily, government officials lack a practical way to check people returning from nations with higher Mpox instances.

Ironically, Mpox is a WHO-declared public health emergency of international concern, and while cases are being found in Nepal one after another, the government is powerless to stop the spread of the disease because there is no practical way to screen people coming home from high-infection countries. The government has not purchased the necessary equipment to screen for Mpox, despite the fact that techniques like PCR tests, optical biosensors, and disposable colloidal gold strip tests are accepted as diagnostic procedures worldwide. The spokesman claims that looking for virus-specific warts on a person’s genitalia is the only alternative method of screening for Mpox.

God bless Nepal for the moment. The Health Ministry is counting on the public to take preventative action in order to reduce the number of possible Mpox infections. This implies that people returning from high-infection nations must willingly enter a quarantine. It is recommended that those returning from these nations remain under quarantine for three weeks, and that their friends and relatives keep their distance from them. Additionally, the ministry has recommended foreign-returned individuals to keep their distance and refrain from having sex for a few weeks.

The cause: Mpox is contracted by coming into contact with an infected human or animal’s sores, rashes, or bodily fluids including pus, mucus, or saliva. Additionally, mpox can be transmitted by direct contact with contaminated objects or surfaces, like clothing and bedding, or by coming into contact with infected animals, such as squirrels, rodents, and monkeys.