The World Health Organisation declared the last mpox global emergency over in May 2023. And just over a year later, here we are again. Since the start of 2024, a deadlier, more transmissible strain of the virus has killed over 600 people. New cases have recently appeared in Europe and Asia. In August, the WHO declared a new mpox global health emergency. The WHO Mpox report dated September 3, 2024, provides global data up to July 31, 2024. A total of 102,997 laboratory-confirmed cases and 186 probable cases, including 223 deaths, have been reported to the WHO.

Also Read | How This Mpox Outbreak Is Different, According To Experts

Now the Mpox, a highly contagiously deadly disease that causes rashes and flu-like symptoms, has been detected in an Iowa prison. It is not known how many confirmed cases there are at Fort Dodge Correctional Facility, but prison staff told the local press that they were controlling the situation.

“We’re actively managing the situation with robust health measures,” Iowa Department of Corrections Chief of Staff Paul Cornelius said in a statement to the Des Moines Register, initially reported by KCCI-TV.

How does monkeypox spread?

Mpox is not airborne like influenza or COVID-19, said Atul Goel. It is primarily transmitted by unprotected close physical contact with an infected person. Apart from sexual transmission, it can also spread through contact with infected material, such as the patient’s blisters and scabs; therefore, maintaining hygiene is crucial. Finally, carers must use personal protective measures to avoid contracting and transmitting the infection.

A recent outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease in Milan, Italy, has killed at least four people and hospitalised several dozen more, according to The Metro. The health authorities say that at least 53 cases have been confirmed in two regions inside the Milan metropolitan area of a severe lung infection.

In response, local authorities are taking urgent measures to control the situation, including deploying chemicals to disinfect the city’s water supply. However, despite extensive testing of water supply systems in private residences and cooling towers, the exact source of the outbreak remains unidentified, according to the news report.

The continuous investigation of finding the source of infection has left the city in great suspense, and sensitivity has developed regarding what efforts should be present to prevent further cases.

What is Legionnaires’ disease?

According to a Washington Post report, Legionnaires’ is a serious form of pneumonia caused by the bacteria Legionella. The pathogen can also cause Pontiac fever, a flu-like illness considered to be a less serious disease.

The bacteria was first discovered decades ago when a mysterious illness sickened dozens attending a 1976 convention of the American Legion in Philadelphia. In that outbreak, 221 people were infected, and 34 died.

The disease initially alarmed health officials, who feared the sickness might spread beyond the conferencegoers. Ultimately, scientists found the bacteria bred in the water of a cooling tower of the air-conditioning system at the Bellevue-Stratford Hotel, where the conference was being held.

How does Legionnaires’ disease spread?

Legionella grow in biofilms lining water pipes, pipes that lead to showers, drinking faucets, and HVAC systems for cooling, said Panagis Galiatsatos, an associate professor of medicine in pulmonary and critical care medicine at the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Centre at Johns Hopkins University.

Legionella can even grow in the tanks that hold windscreen wiper fluid in a car, according to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

People can become infected by breathing in mist or swallowing water into the lungs that’s contaminated with the bacteria. “Less commonly, people can get sick by aspiration of drinking water containing Legionella,” a CDC spokeswoman said Tuesday.

A viral pink eye epidemic, also known as conjunctivitis, is affecting hundreds of thousands of people in Pakistan. Over the past several months, as the country grapples with summer heatwaves and record rainfall, this contagious disease has been steadily spreading. Health authorities in Pakistan are facing significant challenges in containing this highly infectious pathogen, which appears to thrive in humid conditions.

Nearly 400,000 people in Pakistan have been infected with viral conjunctivitis, also known as pink eye, since the start of the year. The outbreak peaked last week, with over 10,000 cases reported in a single day in Punjab province on Saturday and 13,000 new cases reported on Tuesday.

Conjunctivitis is an inflammation of the conjunctiva, the mucous membrane that covers the front of the eye and eyelids. It can be caused by bacteria or viruses, and the current outbreak in Pakistan is thought to be caused by a highly contagious virus.

“Many different types of viruses can cause viral conjunctivitis (including the COVID-19 virus). However, the majority, up to 75 percent, of infectious conjunctivitis is caused by adenovirus,” Isabelle Jalbert, professor of optometry and vision science at UNSW Sydney, Australia, told Newsweek. “It appears that the outbreak in Pakistan involves a highly contagious form of the virus.”

According to The Telegraph, more than 56,000 schools in Pakistan closed their doors for four days amid an outbreak of viral conjunctivitis.

Paul Hunter, a professor of medicine at the University of East Anglia, said closures represent only a temporary solution and will not work long-term.

“I suspect that there are many more such outbreaks that are not reported,” he told the Telegraph.

“Closing schools may temporarily reduce the spread of adenoviruses, but transmission is likely to pick up again when the schools reopen.”