The 2022–2023 mpox outbreak in Israel is a part of the ongoing outbreak of human mpox caused by the West African clade of the monkeypox virus. The outbreak was first reported in Israel on 20 May 2022 when the Health Ministry announced a suspected case which was confirmed on 21 May 2022. One month later, on 21 June, the first locally transmitted case was reported.
| 2022–2023 mpox outbreak in Israel | |
|---|---|
| Disease | Mpox |
| Virus strain | Monkeypox virus (West African clade) |
| Location | Israel |
| Index case | Ichilov General Hospital, Tel Aviv |
| Date | 20 May 2022 – ongoing (1 year, 11 months, and 6 days) |
| Confirmed cases | 121 |
| Suspected cases‡ | 0 |
Deaths | 0 |
| Government website | |
| Ministry of Health (Israel) | |
| ‡Suspected cases have not been confirmed by laboratory tests as being due to this strain, although some other strains may have been ruled out. | |
Currently, Israel is the most affected country in Asia and the 14th most affected country in the world. Israel was also the first in Asia to report a case.
Background edit
In May 2022, the World Health Organization (WHO) made an emergency announcement of the existence of a multi-country outbreak of mpox, a viral disease then commonly known as "monkeypox".[1] The initial cluster of cases was found in the United Kingdom,[2] where the first case was detected in London on 6 May 2022[3] in a patient with a recent travel history from Nigeria (where the disease is endemic).[4] On 16 May, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) confirmed four new cases with no link to travel to a country where mpox is endemic.[3] Subsequently, cases have been reported from many countries and regions.[5] The outbreak marked the first time mpox had spread widely outside Central and West Africa. There is evidence that the disease had been circulating and evolving in human hosts over a number of years prior to the outbreak. The outbreak was of the Clade IIb variant of the virus.[6]
On 23 July 2022, the Director-General of WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC), stating that "we have an outbreak that has spread around the world rapidly, through new modes of transmission, about which we understand too little".[7] A global response to the outbreak included public awareness campaigns in order to reduce spread of the disease, and repurposing of smallpox vaccines.[8][9]Transmission edit
A large portion of those infected were believed to have not recently traveled to areas of Africa where mpox is normally found, such as Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo as well as central and western Africa. It is believed to be transmitted by close contact with sick people, with extra caution for those individuals with lesions on their skin or genitals, along with their bedding and clothing. The CDC has also stated that individuals should avoid contact and consumption of dead animals such as rats, squirrels, monkeys and apes along with wild game or lotions derived from animals in Africa.[10]
In addition to more common symptoms, such as fever, headache, swollen lymph nodes, and rashes or lesions, some patients have also experienced proctitis, an inflammation of the rectum lining. CDC has also warned clinicians to not rule out mpox in patients with sexually transmitted infections since there have been reports of co-infections with syphilis, gonorrhea, chlamydia, and herpes.[11]
History edit
Imported case before the outbreak edit
In 2018, an imported case was detected in Israel. A 38-year-old man came from Rivers State, Nigeria in late September. He showed the symptoms of the disease on that month. Later on October the patient sought medical attention at Shaare-Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem. He was confirmed to be infected with the West African Clade of monkeypox virus that month. All of the patient's contacts were traced and followed up but no virus transmission were detected.[12]
Arrival edit
As the outbreak was spreading in Europe in the middle of May 2022, the Israeli Health Ministry reported a suspected mpox case in the country on 20 May. The case was confirmed by testing on 21 May, becoming the first case in Israel during the outbreak.
The 30-year-old man returned from Western Europe and contracted the disease from there. The ministry reported that he was in isolation in the Ichilov General Hospital in Tel Aviv.[13][14]
Spread edit
The Ministry of Health reported the first case of community transmission on 21 June 2022.[15]
Timeline edit
May 2022 edit
June 2022 edit
July 2022 edit
Responses edit
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Cases and statistics edit
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See also edit
- 2022–2023 mpox outbreak
- Timeline of the 2022–2023 mpox outbreak
- 2022–2023 mpox outbreak in Asia
- 2022–2023 mpox outbreak in Europe
- 2022–2023 mpox outbreak in Canada
- 2022–2023 mpox outbreak in Peru
- 2022–2023 mpox outbreak in South Africa
- 2022–2023 mpox outbreak in the United States
- Mpox in Nigeria
- Mpox in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Notes edit
References edit
- ^ "Multi-country monkeypox outbreak in non-endemic countries". World Health Organization. May 21, 2022. Archived from the original on May 22, 2022. Retrieved May 25, 2022.
- ^ "So, Have You Heard About Monkeypox?". The Atlantic. May 19, 2022. Archived from the original on June 23, 2022. Retrieved June 2, 2022.
- ^ a b "Monkeypox cases confirmed in England – latest updates". GOV.UK. September 6, 2022. Retrieved September 25, 2022.
- ^ "Monkeypox – United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland". World Health Organization. May 16, 2022. Archived from the original on May 17, 2022. Retrieved May 17, 2022.
- ^ "2022 Mpox Outbreak Global Map | Mpox | Poxvirus | CDC". www.cdc.gov. September 12, 2023. Retrieved December 1, 2023.
- ^ Sample, Ian (November 2, 2023). "Mpox circulated for five years before global explosion in 2022, research finds". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved December 1, 2023.
- ^ "WHO Director-General declares the ongoing monkeypox outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern". World Health Organization (WHO). July 23, 2022. Retrieved August 4, 2022.
- ^ "Monkeypox – Campaign details". Department of Health and Social Care – Campaign Resource Centre. Archived from the original on May 28, 2023. Retrieved May 28, 2023.
- ^ "Protecting you from mpox (monkeypox): information on the smallpox vaccination". GOV.UK. Archived from the original on May 28, 2023. Retrieved May 28, 2023.
- ^ Vargas, Ramon Antonio (June 7, 2022). "US raises monkeypox alert level but says risk to public remains low". the Guardian. Retrieved June 9, 2022.
- ^ "Monkeypox update: Where the outbreak stands now".
- ^ Erez, Noam; Achdout, Hagit; Milrot, Elad; Schwartz, Yuval; Wiener-Well, Yonit; Paran, Nir; Politi, Boaz; Tamir, Hadas; Israely, Tomer; Weiss, Shay; Beth-Din, Adi; Shifman, Ohad; Israeli, Ofir; Yitzhaki, Shmuel; Shapira, Shmuel C.; Melamed, Sharon; Schwartz, Eli (May 25, 2019). "Diagnosis of Imported Monkeypox, Israel, 2018". Emerging Infectious Diseases. 25 (5): 980–983. doi:10.3201/eid2505.190076. PMC 6478227. PMID 30848724.
- ^ Efrati, Ido. "Israel Confirms First Case of Monkeypox Virus". Haaretz. Retrieved July 11, 2022.
- ^ "Israel, Switzerland report first monkeypox cases as virus spreads". Al Jazeera. Retrieved July 11, 2022.
- ^ "שלושה גברים נוספים אובחנו בישראל כחולים באבעבועות הקוף" [Three other men diagnosed with monkeypox in Israel]. Ministry of Health (Israel) (in Hebrew). Retrieved July 11, 2022.