Guidelines for social mobilization
TB and poverty; TB and children; TB and women; TB, migrants and refugees; TB and prisons
WHO/CDS/STB/2001.9
Original: English; Distribution: Limited
Contact No 175 - October December 2001
The Global Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan (SPRP) for mpox, covering the six-month period from September 2024 to February 2025, provides a framework for public health preparedness and response to the mpox emergency. The current draft, subject to Member State input, outlines the urgent actio...ns needed at global, regional, and national levels.
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Mpox is a zoonotic disease caused by a double-stranded DNA virus that belongs to the Orthopoxvirus genus of the Poxviridae family. The disease presents with symptoms similar to smallpox but with a lesser severity. It was first discovered in 1958 when two outbreaks of a poxlike disease occurred in co...lonies of monkeys kept for research, hence the name ‘mpox. The first human case of mpox was recorded in 1970 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), which has subsequently spread to other central and western African countries. There are two known clades of the virus: clade I and clade II. Clade I, which is most frequently reported from countries in Central Africa, tends to be more severe than clade II. Cameroon is the only country known to harbour both clades.
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On 13 August 2024, Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) declared the ongoing Mpox outbreak a Public Health Emergency of Continental Security (PHECS). This was followed the next day by the World Health Organization (WHO), which extended the alert internationally as a public ...health emergency of international concern (PHEIC). After these declarations, many countries have made efforts to mobilize resources to introduce or expand laboratory testing, surveillance, and response activities. In particular, as the number of suspected cases surges in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Burundi, and the Central African Republic, and an increasing number of new countries report cases, there is an urgent need to implement testing to strengthen the Mpox response. However, access to appropriate quality assured diagnostics is a challenge. There is limited information on important characteristics, such as available test kits’ performance and ability to detect relevant clades.
To address the challenge of mpox access in the continent, the Africa CDC Diagnostic Advisory Committee (DAC) met in Kigali from 19-23 August 2024 to review the available evidence on molecular tests for Mpox and to shortlist tests that may be useful for Mpox testing in countries. The shortlist aims to provide guidance to Africa CDC, countries and partners on appropriate high-quality molecular tests to procure and use for the mpox response.
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i. A person who is a contact of a probable or confirmed mpox case in the 21 days before the onset of signs or symptoms, and who presents with any of the following: acute onset of fever (>38.5°C), headache, myalgia (muscle pain/body aches), back pain, profound weakness or fatigue.
OR
ii. A per...son presenting since 01 January 2022 with an unexplained acute skin rash, mucosal lesions or lymphadenopathy (swollen lymph nodes). The skin rash may include single or multiple lesions in the ano-genital region or elsewhere on the body. Mucosal lesions may include single or multiple oral, conjunctival, urethral, penile, vaginal, or ano-rectal lesions. Ano-rectal lesions can also manifest as ano-rectal inflammation (proctitis), pain and/or bleeding.
AND
for which the following common causes of acute rash or skin lesions do not fully explain the clinical picture: varicella zoster, herpes zoster, measles, herpes simplex, bacterial skin infections, disseminated gonococcus infection, primary or secondary syphilis, chancroid, lymphogranuloma venereum, granuloma inguinale, molluscum contagiosum, allergic reaction (e.g., to plants); and any other locally relevant common causes of papular or vesicular rash.
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