We still called him “monkey pox” a few years ago, but its name was changed to avoid racist connotations. The WHO warned on Thursday, August 15, 2024 that other imported cases of “Monkeypox” or « Mpox » were likely to be detected soon in Europe, after the reporting in Stockholm (Sweden) of a first case of a variant of this disease which has caused at least 548 deaths since the beginning of the year in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the most affected country.
Faced with the surge in contamination, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) took the lead by declaring, on Tuesday, August 13, the Mpox epidemic as “continental public health emergency”The agency’s highest alert level ever declared since its creation.
Here’s what we know about Mpox and its more contagious and dangerous variant called Clade Ib.
A virus present in France since 2022
Mpox was first discovered in humans in what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in 1970. By 2022, the virus had spread dramatically to more than 75 countries, including many European states. But while the number of cases worldwide had declined significantly in 2023, the epidemic continued in Africa, with 38,465 cases and 1,456 deaths since 2022. In 2024, cases had even increased by 160% compared to last year, the Africa CDC recently reported.
Since this first epidemic, France has recorded 4,272 cases on its territory, reported the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control. The center raised its MPOX alert level to ” moderate “ and calls on countries to strengthen surveillance of travellers returning from affected regions. Despite declining reports, the health ministry acknowledged on Tuesday that “The virus continues to circulate quietly”The 107 cases recorded by Public Health France between January and June last year would be mainly “benign” and would therefore not have caused any deaths, the ministry added.
Read also: Monkeypox: Why the situation in Africa worries the WHO
A new strain that is much more dangerous
Problem: This virus mutates. It is important to know that there are two distinct strains of Mpox. They are called “Clades”. Clade I is mainly present in Central Africa, in the Congo Basin, while Clade II circulates more in West Africa. This 2024 epidemic is caused by Clade I, which is the deadliest, and by an even more dangerous variant, Clade Ib. It is therefore this mutation that is fueling the authorities’ concern about the resurgence of this disease.
This Ib strain was first detected in prostitutes in the Congolese province of South Kivu in September 2023. It then spread to other African countries, including Egypt, Ivory Coast and Uganda. A circulation in territories that had been preserved until now.
His symptoms appear much more serious
Mpox usually starts with a rash and skin lesions on the mouth, face, or genitals, often accompanied by fever, headache, fatigue, and muscle aches. Symptoms, which include blisters or lesions all over the body, usually last two to four weeks. The virus can be mild or fatal in other people.
Unlike previous strains, its Ib strain is “responsible for a more serious illness”WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stressed in a video message on August 8. It is more contagious and causes more severe symptoms, including widespread rashes all over the body. Its mortality rate is estimated at 3.6%, reports theAFP.
A local health official checks on the progress of a boy suffering from monkeypox, in front of his father and mother, in the village of Yalolia, Yakusu, Tshopo, Democratic Republic of Congo, October 3, 2022. | ARLETTE BASHIZ / REUTERS View full screen
A local health official checks on the progress of a boy suffering from monkeypox, in front of his father and mother, in Yalolia village, Yakusu, Tshopo, Democratic Republic of Congo, October 3, 2022. | ARLETTE BASHIZ / REUTERS
Different modes of transmission
This disease is often perceived by the general public as a virus that mainly affects men, homosexuals and sexually active men. “The risk of contracting monkeypox is not limited to sexually active or gay people”recalls the WHO. The people most exposed are those who have multiple risky relationships (oral, anal or vaginal without protection) with several partners. And regardless of their gender, both women and men are likely to contract the virus and subsequently transmit it.
One thing is certain, the virus in question is also transmitted by non-sexual contact, assures the WHO, but several unknowns continue to surround its modes of transmission, indicates the Center for diseases control (CDC). At this point, “We don’t know whether the Ib strain is more transmissible, but we know that it is transmitted more efficiently.”said Dr Rosamund Lewis, WHO’s virus chief.
Children particularly affected
Children are also at risk, especially since the disease appears to be more deadly among them. According to the WHO, in 2024, children under five years old will represent nearly 40% of Mpox cases in the DRC. Health authorities are also observing persistent side effects after recovery, prompting new research into long-term aftereffects.
“Serious cases show a mortality rate of 5% in adults and 10% in children”says Trudi Lang, professor of global health research at the University of Oxford and co-author of the study that identified clade Ib, on the Gavi websitean international organization that aims to improve access to vaccines for children in poorer countries.
Read also: Covid-19: a summer wave hits Europe and the United States
A surge in cases worldwide
“We are facing multiple epidemics with different strains in different countries, with different modes of transmission and different levels of risk” WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus recently said. And his organization warned Thursday after the discovery of a case of the Ib variant in Sweden: “It is likely that further imported cases of clade 1 will be recorded in the European region in the coming days and weeks.”
Two days after the WHO triggered its highest level of international health alert in the face of the resurgence of cases in Africa, Pakistan reported its first case of MPOX on its territory on Friday. For its part, China announced that it was strengthening its controls on people and goods likely to have been in contact with the virus.
A lack of vaccines in Africa
Effective vaccines against MPOX exist but are largely lacking in Africa, while they were the subject of campaigns in Western countries in 2022. On Tuesday, Africa CDC announced that some 200,000 doses would be deployed in Africa, thanks to an agreement with the European Union (EU) and the Danish pharmaceutical laboratory Bavarian Nordic.
The manufacturer, whose shares jumped on Thursday the day after the World Health Organization (WHO) decided to trigger its highest level of alert in the face of the resurgence of cases of COPD, said it was ready to produce up to 10 million doses of vaccines by 2025. To manufacture these additional doses, the company is waiting for orders from the countries concerned. “We need to see the contracts”added the vice-president of the laboratory which currently has some 500,000 doses in stock.
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