Could this Mpox be Disease X? I Guess only time will tell

BY SIMONE J. SMITH

The latest fear being spread across media is a growing outbreak of mpox in Africa, which may soon prompt the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare a public health emergency of international concern.

Yes! Here we go again…

WHO’s Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus spoke at a news conference on Wednesday August 7^th, 2024, and according to the Director, so far the multinational outbreak has been concentrated mostly in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), which has reported more than 14,000 cases of mpox this year.

News about mpox first came out in 2023, when the Democratic Republic of the Congo reported about 12,600 suspected cases and 580 deaths from mpox between January and early December.  Now, “the number of cases reported in the first six months of this year [2024] match the number reported in all of last year and the virus has spread to previously unaffected provinces,” reports Director Tedros at the news conference. In addition, in the past month, 50 cases have been confirmed and more are suspected in: Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda, which neighbor the DRC, he said.

“In light of the spread of Mpox outside DRC, and the potential for further international spread within and outside Africa, I have decided to convene an Emergency Committee under the International Health Regulations to advise me on whether the outbreak represents a public health emergency of international concern,” Director Tedros reported. “That committee will meet as soon as possible.”

The WHO has released funding to ramp up mpox response in affected countries and is working to improve access to the two available mpox vaccines. In addition, Science reported that a clinical trial preparing to launch in Africa will test the vaccines as a treatment to use after an mpox exposure.

I find it interesting that once again Africa is being used as a petri dish. Africa has been used as a testing ground for vaccines. This raises serious ethical concerns, as past instances of vaccine trials in Africa and India have resulted in devastating consequences. The use of vulnerable populations for experimental medical treatments without adequate oversight, or informed consent is a violation of human rights. This clearly has not mattered, and it continues to happen on the world stage.

They are already sounding an international alarm when, “No cases of clade I mpox have been reported outside central and eastern Africa at this time,” the health alert states.

In the U.S., hundreds of cases of clade 2 mpox were reported earlier in the year, between January and April. A trickle of new cases is still being reported now, but the latest CDC data suggest the rate has been tapering off throughout the summer.

Now that we have dealt with the “mainstream news,” I want to provide some context, and bring us back to a narrative that we have already experienced. In January 2024 at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, a panel of health industry leaders discussed the importance of preplanning for the outbreak of a hypothetical “Disease X.”

What is Disease X you ask? Disease X is not a specific disease but is the name given to a potential novel infectious agent. The World Economic Forum claims that it represents an illness which is currently unknown but could pose a serious microbial threat to humans in the future. It is necessary to be prepared because there is a vast reservoir of viruses circulating among wildlife, which could become a source of a new infectious disease to which humans do not have immunity.

In 2018, the World Health Organization (WHO) added Disease X to a list of pathogens that are a top priority for research, alongside known killers like Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and Ebola.

Labelling this potential threat as “Disease X” is meant to prioritize preparations for dealing with a disease that does not yet have vaccines, or drug treatments, and could give rise to a severe epidemic. In 2023, healthcare professionals warned that any new pandemic could be even deadlier – killing an estimated 50 million people worldwide.

So how are they preparing for our pending pandemic? Well according to the oligarchs, it involves international cooperation, including on research and development, as well as the development of country-level initiatives such as tentative response plans in the event of an outbreak of a new disease. Such plans could include mapping out how to increase hospital capacity, scale up supply of treatment and adopt new technologies to support medical workers.

Could this mpox be Disease X? I guess only time will tell. I will say this, we can expect that something is coming, and tests have shown that as a people, we need to do a better job of filtering information and ensuring that we take the time to research before we put anymore vaccines in our bodies.