Dr. Sylvester Ikhisemojie
When the World Health Organization announced that it was changing the name of monkeypox to mpox, the decision seemed curious. The current outbreak was first confirmed in the United Kingdom in May 2022, when an index case was identified in a patient who had recently traveled to Nigeria, where the disease is endemic. Subsequent cases among people who had not been to Nigeria suggested transmission from the visitor. Within a month, mpox was detected in other European countries, North America, Asia, and Australia—marking the first spread of the disease beyond West and Central Africa since it was first diagnosed. In July 2022, WHO Director‑General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern. Some quickly blamed the “dark African continent” for its emergence.
In November 2022, the WHO announced an unusual name change from monkeypox to mpox after receiving a letter from a group of about 24 African scientists. They argued that linking the disease to monkeys reinforced stereotypes that Africans are “nothing much different from apes,” which could hinder global mobilization of resources to combat the disease. The WHO’s decision to listen to these scientists is commendable and represents a significant service to Africa, challenging the persistent perception of the continent as the origin of ignorance and infectious diseases.
The world was still recovering from the COVID‑19 pandemic, which had exposed deep racial and economic inequalities. In the United States, Europe, and China, new infections continued to emerge, and the poorest populations suffered the most. Black and Latino communities in North America experienced disproportionate mortality, while ethnic minorities and low‑income earners in the United Kingdom, France, Italy, and Spain bore the brunt of mpox. Black immigrants in these hard‑hit countries were more likely to work as frontline health workers, living in less affluent neighborhoods with poorer sanitation and limited access to clean water—conditions also seen in Brazil and India. Poverty influences education, housing, and overall health, dramatically affecting disease outcomes. Consequently, wealthier, predominantly white populations were spared far more than poorer Black and coloured communities.
Historically, the disease was not named after Wuhan, yet Ebola bears the name of a Congolese river and Lassa fever after a village in Nigeria’s Bauchi State. Such naming practices reflect lingering biases that have long portrayed sub‑Saharan Africans as “mere mammals.”
Mpox is a viral infection that affects humans and some animals. It belongs to the same family as smallpox and is caused by the monkeypox virus. Transmission can occur through handling infected meat or animal scratches, with many initial human cases arising among people living on the forest fringes in Central and West Africa. Two broad virus species exist in these regions and behave differently. The disease typically begins with fever, muscle aches, fatigue, and swollen lymph nodes. Not all symptoms appear simultaneously, but they are usually followed by a rash of blisters that may appear on the lips, genitals, face, torso, palms, or soles. The severity depends on the individual’s immune status; young children, pregnant women, and immunocompromised persons are at higher risk. Mortality is low, and most lesions resolve within 5–21 days. Blisters start as flat bumps, fill with clear fluid that turns yellow, burst, and form scabs that can persist for up to ten days. The number of lesions varies from a few to several thousand, eventually leaving pale, then dark, scars similar to those of chickenpox.
Complications can include pneumonia, sepsis, severe eye infections leading to blindness, encephalitis, and, in pregnant women, stillbirths or birth defects. Prior smallpox vaccination offers some protection. Mpox is likely under‑reported in Nigeria and other African nations because the outbreak coincided with the COVID‑19 pandemic, deterring patients from seeking care for fear of infection. Sadly, this follows a pattern of disease under‑reporting across the continent, with Nigeria being no exception.
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