WHO declares Mpox outbreaks in Africa a global health emergency as a new form of the virus spreads
London, Aug 14: The World Health Organisation has declared the Mpox outbreaks in Congo and elsewhere in Africa a global emergency, with cases confirmed among children and adults in more than a dozen countries and a new form of the virus spreading. Few vaccine doses are available on the continent.
Earlier this week, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that the Mpox outbreaks were a public health emergency, with more than 500 deaths, and called for international help to stop the virus' spread.
“This is something that should concern us all...The potential for further spread beyond Africa and beyond is very worrying,” said WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
The Africa CDC previously said that Mpox, also known as monkeypox, has been detected in 13 countries this year, and that more than 96% of all cases and deaths are in Congo. Cases are up 160% and deaths are up 19% compared with the same period last year. So far, there have been more than 14,000 cases and 524 people have died.
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Two more infants die, toll in Jhansi medical college fire rises to 17
Jhansi (UP) (PTI): Two more infants rescued from a fire that ripped through the Maharani Laxmi Bai Medical College here have died, taking the total toll in the blaze to 17, a senior official said on Sunday.
Thirty-nine newborns were rescued from a devastating fire in the medical college hospital's neonatal intensive care unit on the night of November 15.
Dr Narendra Singh Sengar, the medical college's principal, told PTI that of the 39 infants rescued, two more died on Saturday.
While 10 babies died on the night of the fire, the remainder succumbed to their "illnesses", he said.
A post-mortem of the two bodies was done on Saturday and the cause of death was confirmed as "illness" in both cases. The bodies have been handed over to the family members, Sengar said.
The birth weight of both infants was 800 grams and one of them also had a hole in the heart, he added.
Meanwhile, Congress sources said on Sunday that the party's state chief Ajay Rai and Barabanki MP Tanuj Punia would travel to Jhansi and visit the medical college. They will also meet the families whose babies died in the fire.
