On Wednesday, August 21, Thai authorities said they had detected a new case of Mpox in the country and are investigating whether the variant is the same as the one raging in Central Africa. Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) is urging nations to unite to fight the virus, days after sounding the alarm about the new variant causing the outbreak in Central Africa.
Article by Robert Hart for Forbes US – translated by Flora Lucas
Chronology
August 21 – Thailand detected a case of Mpox in a European tourist arriving from Africa last week. Health authorities said they were treating the case as if it were the new variant of the virus, pending the results of tests to determine the strain, which should be available in a few days.
August 20 – “We can and we must fight together against Mpox”Hans Kluge, WHO regional director for Europe, told reporters. “So will we choose to put in place the systems needed to control and eliminate the virus globally? Or will we enter a new cycle of panic and neglect?”
August 19 – The Philippines has reported its first case of Mpox this year in a 33-year-old man who had never traveled outside the country, the health ministry said, later adding that it was not the same form as the new clade 1 variant causing a growing outbreak in central Africa, but the milder clade 2 variant.
August 16 – Pakistan has confirmed at least one case of Mpox in a patient returning from an unspecified Gulf country (several reports mention Saudi Arabia or the United Arab Emirates), although testing later revealed that it was not the new clade 1b strain, but the clade 2 variant.
August 15 – Sweden is the first country outside the African continent to report a case of Mpox caused by the clade 1 variant, although authorities said the patient was infected during a trip to central Africa and stressed that the risk to the general population from the virus was “very weak”.
August 16 – WHO declares the Mpox outbreak a public health emergency of international concern, the highest level of alert under international law.
August 13 – At least 12 countries in Africa have reported Mpox outbreaks so far, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said at the time of to announce state of emergency. Of these 12 countries, four (Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda) had never reported cases of Mpox before.
August 13 – The vast majority of Mpox cases have been reported in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the historical territory of the virus for more than a decade, and at least 12 neighboring countries, including those listed above, have reported cases or are considered high risk due to their shared border with the DRC: the Republic of Congo, the Central African Republic, Rwanda, Cameroon, Gabon, Angola, South Sudan, Tanzania and Zambia.
Citation principale
“We encourage all countries to strengthen surveillance, share data and work together to better understand the transmission of the virus, share tools such as vaccines and apply lessons learned from previous public health emergencies of international concern to address the current outbreak.”a declared The head of OMS, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
How many cases have been reported?
African authorities have confirmed 2,863 cases of Mpox and 517 deaths in 2024 so far, according to the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Preventionmost of them in the DRC. Only a fraction of suspected infections are subject to genetic testing to confirm the presence of the virus and determine the variant responsible. Authorities said the number of suspected cases had already exceeds The 17,000, well above the 15,600 cases and 537 deaths recorded last year. These figures are just the tip of the iceberg, experts say, due to difficulties in tracking and analyzing cases.
What is Mpox?
Mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, is a viral disease caused by infection with the monkeypox virus. The virus belongs to a large family of viral diseases known to affect both humans and animals. Infections are usually mild, but can be fatal, with data suggesting that the clade 1 variant has a mortality rate of up to 10%. Young children, pregnant women, and people with weakened immune systems are at greatest risk of death. Symptoms of infection include fever, swollen lymph nodes, and a distinctive pus-filled rash. The virus is mainly spread through close contact with infected people or animals or through contaminated materials, such as towels.
Are there any vaccines against Mpox?
Yes, the vaccine of choice for health authorities is the two-dose vaccine from Bavarian Nordic. This vaccine, sold under the names Jynneos, Imvamune, and Imvanex, has a more favorable risk profile than other available vaccines and has been authorized for use against the Mpox virus by major health agencies around the world. The company claims to have 10 million injections to fight the outbreak by the end of 2025, including 2 million by the end of the year. Emergent BioSolutions’ ACAM2000 smallpox vaccine is in abundant supply around the world. This vaccine, held for national security reasons in case the now-eradicated smallpox resurfaces or is weaponized, is not generally recommended for widespread use due to its higher risk of potentially serious side effects, but could be used to protect against Mpox if needed. KM Biologics obtained approval for its LC16 vaccine in its home country of Japan during the 2022 outbreak. However, the company has not sought global approval for the vaccine and it is not commercially available. Japan’s national stockpile would contain significant quantities of the vaccine if Tokyo were to make it available. Another smallpox vaccine that could be used against Mpox has also been approved in Russia. That vaccine, which the WHO qualified of “first fourth-generation vaccine against smallpox and orthopoxviruses”however, is not widely available, and given the agency that developed it, it is unclear whether Moscow would share its stockpile internationally. The vaccine was developed and licensed by Russia’s Vector Institute, the historic home of the Soviet Union’s biological weapons program and home to one of two licensed smallpox repositories in the world.
Who should be vaccinated against Mpox?
Most countries consider the risk of an Mpox outbreak to be very low and have not endorsed widespread vaccination. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States recommend Mpox vaccination for at-risk groups identified during the last global outbreak in 2022 and, although cases have declined, the Mpox virus variant is still circulating. These include gay, bisexual or other men who have sex with men, transgender, non-binary or gender-diverse people, particularly those who have multiple sexual partners, who have sex in commercial settings such as clubs or saunas, and who have been newly diagnosed with a sexually transmitted infection such as chlamydia, gonorrhea or syphilis in the past six months. People with occupational risk of exposure, such as laboratory or healthcare workers, are also recommended to get vaccinated, as are people who have had sex with or been exposed to someone who has the virus. The agency recommends giving two doses of Jynneos four weeks apart.
What happened to the clade 2 variant of the Mpox virus?
The clade 2 variant that caused the 2022 outbreak is still circulating. Cases in Western countries have declined following widespread vaccination efforts, but several cases continue to emerge and authorities are closely monitoring the virus’s movements. The variant is also still responsible for outbreaks in Africa, primarily in West Africa, where it has always circulated. In its rapport On the clade 1 outbreak, WHO reported an outbreak of Mpox “distinct” in Ivory Coast, linked to clade 2.
Also read: Monkeypox vaccine gets green light in Europe
