The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) on Friday raised its risk level for mpox, a day after global health officials confirmed the first infection with a new strain of the virus outside Africa, in Sweden.
The EU public health body’s head said there will be more imported cases of the new mpox strain in Europe in the coming weeks, though the risk of sustained transmission remains low.
The World Health Organization on Wednesday declared mpox a global public health emergency, its highest form of alert, following an outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo that had spread to neighbouring countries.
Mpox, a viral infection that causes pus-filled lesions and flu-like symptoms, is usually mild but can kill. Two strains are now spreading in Congo – the endemic form of the virus, clade I, and a new offshoot called clade Ib.
The ECDC on Friday raised its risk level assessment for mpox to “moderate” from “low” for sporadic cases appearing in the EU, and asked countries to maintain high levels of awareness among travellers visiting from affected areas. The agency said the overall risk to the population had gone up from “very low” to “low”.
VIDEO: The Democratic Republic of Congo says an mpox outbreak has killed 548 people there this year, as the first case outside Africa of the virus's more dangerous variant was recorded in Sweden. Pakistan has also recorded a case but it's not clear which strain it is. pic.twitter.com/7fkVp3pGnW
— AFP News Agency (@AFP) August 16, 2024
“Due to the close links between Europe and Africa, we must be prepared for more imported clade I cases,” its director Pamela Rendi Wagner said.
Pakistan also confirmed on Friday a case of the mpox virus in a patient who had returned from a Gulf country, though it was not clear whether it was of the new variant or of the clade that has been spreading globally since 2022. The infected person has not been traced so far.
China will monitor people and goods entering the country for mpox for the next six months, a statement from its customs administration said Friday.
Mpox transmits through close physical contact, including sexual contact, but unlike previous global pandemics such as COVID-19 there is no evidence it spreads easily through the air.
WHO official Margaret Harris said on a media call on Friday that she expects more cases outside Africa to emerge soon, also as a result of heightened monitoring.
However, the WHO has advised against any travel restrictions to stop the spread of the virus. China said earlier on Friday it plans to monitor people and goods entering the country for mpox for the next six months.
Shortage of kits
Far more diagnostic kits, treatments and vaccines need to be shipped to Africa to respond adequately to the outbreak of the new strain of the mpox virus there, an official of the Red Cross and Red Crescent humanitarian network said on Friday.
The head of global vaccine group Gavi told Reuters it has up to $500 million to spend on getting shots to countries affected by the escalating outbreak in Africa.
Shares in companies making and developing products against mpox surged on Friday. Shares of vaccine makers Bavarian Nordic and Emergent BioSolutions jumped 20% each, while those of Siga Technologies, which makes an antiviral mpox drug, rose 7%.
Denmark’s Bavarian Nordic said it had submitted data to the EU’s drug regulator for approval to extend the use of its mpox and smallpox vaccine to adolescents aged 12 to 17 years.
Shares in New Jersey-based Tonix Pharmaceuticals also leapt after the company said it will advance development of its mpox vaccine candidate.
“We are motivated to advance development for our mpox vaccine with urgency given the global public health emergency,” its CEO Seth Lederman said.
(REUTERS)
