The Looming Threat of Mpox Post-Covid

Ever since the World Health Organization declared the end of the Covid pandemic on May 5, 2023, life has been restored to how it was pre-Covid. Masks and social distancing are now rarely seen, retail, hospitality, and travel businesses are recovering from the impacts of two years of pandemic. Moreover, our perception of Covid has shifted, from fear of overwhelmingly formidable disease to indifferent acceptance of the ubiquity of the virus.

It’s too soon to let our guard down, however. Another global pandemic may be nearing. Mpox, formerly known as Monkeypox, which has been around since 1958, is spreading rapidly in many parts of southern Africa. UNICEF has already spent $58.8 million dollars in Africa to stop this outbreak from becoming another pandemic, declaring a “public health emergency of international concern”.

Although the WHO claims that the Mpox will be nowhere near Covid-19, thanks to our years of knowledge, and that the spread can be eliminated completely within the next few years, we need to stay vigilant.

Variants and mutations of the virus can occur at any second, making the strain deadlier and diffuse across the world quicker, as seen with the Covid-19 Omicron variant. The most viral case of Mpox currently is the Clade 1b variant, which has been more fatal and fastest spreading compared to other Mpox variants that have recently developed. If deadlier variants are able to form before we can completely contain the disease, the disease will surely become a pandemic that would have a critical impact on our global community. With the rapid spread of the disease, the past seems to be repeating itself, making us wonder if we learned anything from Covid.

So what can we do to prevent another global shutdown? Monitoring cases with stricter supervision is a must. Governments must be ready to take action and be aware of the existence of the disease, preparing diagnostics and vaccines to contain the virus as quickly as possible if it ever does get into their country. Let us not have history repeat itself and unleash devastating consequences globally.