By Deutsche Welle
Aug 25, 2024, 4:20 PM EDT
Pope Francis prayed this Sunday (25.08.2024) for the victims of the mpox, a disease that is considered “a global health emergency”.
“I pray for all those infectedespecially the population of the Democratic Republic of Congo, who have suffered so much. I express my closeness to the local Churches of the countries most affected by this disease,” he said at the end of the weekly Angelus prayer.
Faced with the increase in cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the spread to Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared an international public health emergency on August 14, the highest level of alert.
“I encourage governments and private industry to share technology and the treatments available so that no one lacks appropriate medical care,” the pontiff said on Sunday.
Although MPOX has been known for decades under the name monkeypox, the recent increase in cases is due to a new, more deadly and transmissible variant, called clade 1b, which has a mortality rate of 3.6%, according to the WHO.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, the disease has killed more than 570 people so far this year. The first case in Europe was recorded in Sweden on 15 August.
The virus can be transmitted from animals to people, but also between people through close physical contact.
Continue reading:
• WHO warns of a deadly strain of mpox in the world
• WHO detects mpox outbreak in East Africa