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15 Sep 2022
DOI: 10.1126/science.add3668
OYEWALE TOMORI AND DIMIE OGOINA
... This selective attention, despite the long years of inaction and absence of response to the continuous transmission of MPV in Africa over the past 30 years, highlights the glaring inequity in global health, which is also demonstrated by the inequitable availability of, and access to, COVID-19 vaccines. As MPX ravaged different communities in Africa, the world was silent. Calls for investments in field investigations during and after outbreaks, and research to generate data for a better understanding of MPX epidemiology, went unheeded, both at the national and international levels.
What should be done to control MPX in endemic countries and prevent it from becoming endemic in other parts of the world (if it is not already)? There is an urgent need for a collaborative effort to develop a sustainable and equitable global plan. This plan should address the identification of the natural animal hosts and reservoirs of MPV to improve understanding of the transmission and epidemiology of the disease. It should also apply the One Health approach in designing field research and laboratory support that will build the requisite capacity, especially of scientists, in MPX endemic countries. The plan should include drug development and improved vaccines that are readily available and affordable, for the care of the infected and protection of the exposed. Public awareness should also be a focus of the plan, ensuring targeted education and risk communication that clarifies individual roles in preventing infection and spreading the disease.
The current global spread of MPX reminds us once again that infectious diseases know no borders and responses should protect everyone, leaving no country behind. ...
