The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (EU) on Friday raised its risk level for mpox, a day after global health officials confirmed a case of infection with a new strain of the virus in Sweden, the first outside Africa.
The head of the EU's public health agency said there will be more imported cases of the new MPOX strain in Europe in the coming weeks, although the risk of sustained transmission remains low.
The World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday declared mpox a global public health emergency, its highest alert level, following an outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo that has spread to neighboring countries.
Mpox, a viral infection that causes purulent lesions and flu-like symptoms, is usually mild but can be fatal. Two strains are spreading in the Congo: the endemic form of the virus, clade I, and a new branch called clade Ib.
The ECDC on Friday raised its assessment of the MPOX risk level from “low” to “moderate” for sporadic cases appearing in the bloc, and called on countries to maintain high levels of awareness among travellers visiting affected areas.
“Because of the close links between Europe and Africa, we must be prepared for more imported cases of clade I,” said its director, Pamela Rendi Wagner.
At least three patients have been diagnosed with the monkeypox virus in Pakistan, health authorities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province confirmed on Friday.
The first case of the year was a patient who had returned from a Gulf country, although it was unclear whether this was the new variant or the clade that has been spreading globally since 2022.
WHO official Margaret Harris said at a news conference on Friday that she expects more cases to emerge outside Africa soon, also as a result of increased surveillance.
However, the WHO has advised against any travel restrictions to stop the spread of the virus.
China said Friday it plans to monitor people and goods entering the country for mpox over the next six months.
Diagnosis
Many more diagnostic kits, treatments and vaccines need to be sent to Africa to adequately respond to the outbreak of the new strain of mpox virus there, an official with the Red Cross and Red Crescent humanitarian network said on Friday.
The head of global vaccine group Gavi said Reuters It has up to $500 million to spend on supplying vaccines to countries hit by the growing outbreak in Africa.
Shares of pharmaceutical companies developing mpox vaccines rose on Friday.
Shares of Danish biotech Bavarian Nordic's BAVA rose more than 15% after it said it had submitted data to the EU drug regulator seeking approval to expand use of its mpox and smallpox vaccines to adolescents aged 12 to 17.
Shares of New Jersey-based Tonix Pharmaceuticals also rose after the company said it will move forward with the development of its mpox vaccine candidate.
“We are motivated to advance the development of our mpox vaccine with urgency given the global public health emergency,” said CEO Seth Lederman.
