Affenpox spread: This is how you protect yourself now!

Affenpox spread: This is how you protect yourself now!

Kongo, Afrika - The monkey quits, also known as MPOX, are spreading in Europe and North America. Health authorities in these regions have registered numerous suspected and confirmed cases since the beginning of May 2025. The disease, which is endemic in some parts of Africa, has infected thousands of people in Central and West Africa in recent years. In Europe and North Africa, however, such outbreaks are rare. In order to cope with the new developments, the World Health Organization (WHO) has intensified coordination with British and European health authorities, such as Kosmo

Despite the increasing number of cases, the disease usually runs harmless and heals quickly. According to the American "Center for Disease Control and Prevention" (CDC), the symptoms include fever, headache and body aches, back pain, shaking frost, fatigue and swollen lymph nodes. The duration of the disease is usually two to four weeks and the incubation period is between seven and fourteen days. In the first few days, fever and bladder formation occur that run through different stages before they fall off. The mortality rate of the monkeys is between one and ten percent, whereby children are particularly at risk.

worldwide health emergency position

The WHO recently declared the MPOX outbreaks in the Congo and other African countries as a global emergency, which is reported by EURONEWS . In over a dozen countries, cases have occurred in children and adults. The new variant of the MPOX virus spreads rapidly, while the availability of vaccines in Africa is extremely limited. Meanwhile, the African centers for epidemics explained that the current outbreaks resulted in more than 500 deaths and demanded international help.

WHO General Director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus expressed skepticism with regard to the possible further spread of the virus. The increase in the number of cases is particularly worrying by 160 % compared to the previous year, while deaths have increased by 19 %. To date, over 14,000 cases and 524 deaths are documented worldwide. Salim Abdool Karim, a South African expert in infectious diseases, warned that MPOX is also a risk for neighboring countries in and around Central Africa. This new version of the MPOX disease has an increased mortality rate of about three to four percent.

urgent need for action

The situation is a serious challenge, so that experts like the medical professor Michael Marks emphasize that the MPOX outbreaks in Africa should be explained as an emergency. This could help mobilize urgently needed support to contain the disease. During the global MPOX outbreaks in 2022, the mortality rate was below one percent, but current developments require immediate attention and measures to prevent further expansion, as well as SPIEGEL reported.