African doctors see double standards after monkeypox noticed now

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While Nigeria dealt with monkeypox outbreaks for years, the media did not shed light on it, at not at the same level as today when the disease is spread in Western countries.

After Oyewale Tomori, a virologist in the nation’s southwest, saw the photos being circulated in Western media this week, he chuckled, “Those are the very severe cases,” he said, “Like, ‘Ahh! This is monkeypox!’ ”

The virus causes mild illness in most people and blisters that clear up in weeks, he said, noting that it is much less contagious than the coronavirus and much less fatal than Ebola, not to mention that it already has an effective vaccine. Nevertheless, what annoys the experts across the continent is the double standard that has emerged since monkeypox grabbed the world’s attention. Few showed any care or even noticed it until monkeypox came to the West.

In the past couple of weeks, cases of the virus popped up in the United States, Australia, Canada, "Israel", and a steadily increasing number of European countries. 92 confirmed infections were reported, while no deaths occurred. Belgium has imposed a 21-day quarantine, and US President Biden confirmed to Americans that the US had enough vaccines to deal with the threat.

Yet, global alarm bells didn’t sound in recent months, when several African nations were battling outbreaks. The images blazing across social media rarely feature White patients, which serves as evidence of that.

“These cases are recorded in Europe,” Tomori said. “Why are you using a picture of an African? Those are your pox.”

The World Health Organization (WHO) has not yet confirmed where the outbreak started, though one WHO adviser told the Associated Press (AP) that the cases could be linked to raves in Spain and Belgium. Monkeypox usually spreads by close contact, including sexual activity.

Before monkeypox struck the West this year, the WHO said Nigeria, the Central African Republic, and Cameroon all recorded small case numbers, but contact tracing is limited, according to Yap Boum, a Cameroonian epidemiologist. 

“Maybe now that it’s happening over there, the problem will get more attention,” Boum said, “and we will gain access to more vaccines, more treatments — all the things we did not have the money for.”

The Democratic Republic of Congo has been facing the world’s largest outbreak by far, where at least 1,238 cases and 57 deaths were recorded since January. The strain found there was much more deadly, with a rate as high as 10%. According to doctors, many deaths are preventable, but treatment is sometimes hard to find in places with underfunded hospitals.

“It can be devastating in the same way as covid-19,” said Health Minister Jean Jacques Mbungani, adding that “The response is not effective,” and noting that it "remains lethargic due to the scarcity of resources.”

The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control said Monday that documented cases have been mild. Pregnant women, young children, and people with fragile immune systems face a heightened risk.

Christian Happi, a top genomic sequencing expert in Nigeria, invited his counterparts to come and study how his country has coped and managed monkeypox.

“It’s not that scary here,” he said. “People are used to it. Come learn from our public health authorities. Come see how we contain it.”

The global enthusiasm to combat the virus should have arrived earlier, he said. It could have been eradicated by now. “Paying attention to disease wherever it happens benefits everyone,” he added. “As the pandemic has shown us, we are all in this together.”