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What was the first detected case of monkeypox and why is it now called MPOX?
First identified in the 1950s, cases of monkeypox have been detected in various African nations.
Various cases of monkeypox, also known as MPOX, have been detected in nations across central and east Africa.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda have all registered cases as the WHO have declared a global emergency.
“We declare today this public health emergency of continental security to mobilize our institutions, our collective will, and our resources to act swiftly and decisively,” said Africa CDC Director General Jean Kaseya in a press briefing.
As of May 2024, the DRC has reported 7,851 cases and 384 deaths.
Clade I and Clade II Mpox:
Clade I causes more severe illness and deaths.
- Some outbreaks have killed up to 10% of the people who get sick, although more recent outbreaks have had lower death rates.
- Clade I is endemic to Central Africa.
Clade II is the type that caused the global outbreak that began in 2022.
- Infections from clade II mpox are less severe.
- More than 99.9% of people survive.
- Clade II is endemic to West Africa.
(Source: US Centers for Disease Control and Protection)
Why is monkeypox known as MPOX?
Originally, the name monkeypox came from it when it was first identified, in monkeys, back in 1958. Al Jazeera states that these captive research monkeys were in Denmark at the time of the discovery.
As for the name change from Monkeypox to Mpox, the WHO said in 2022 that “when the outbreak of monkeypox expanded earlier this year, racist and stigmatizing language online, in other settings and in some communities was observed and reported to WHO. In several meetings, public and private, a number of individuals and countries raised concerns and asked WHO to propose a way forward to change the name.”
Monkeypox:
It was not until 1970 when the first reported human case of Mpox was detected, with a nine-month-old boy in the Democratic Republic of Congo the victim of the disease.
The European Centre for Disease Protection and Control writes that “Human mpox was reported outside of Africa for the first time in 2003, when an mpox outbreak occurred in the United States” and adds that neither human transmission or human deaths occurred, with “MPXV-infected rodents imported from Ghana” the initial host.