European health authorities are rushing to contain an outbreak of MPOX, formerly known as monkeypox, after a more severe strain of the virus was detected in Sweden. Officials have urged European countries to issue travel warnings for MPOX-affected areas as the potentially deadly virus has been declared a global health emergency.
By Stephen J. Boss
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The European Health Agency warned on Friday that there was a “high probability” of further imported cases of MPOX in Europe.
Officials expressed concern after the first cases of the more severe MPOX strain circulating in Africa were detected in Sweden.
“This afternoon we also received confirmation that there is one case in Sweden of the more severe type of MPOX, the so-called clade I,” Sweden's Minister of Health and Social Affairs Jakob Forsmed said.
He added: “Of course, this is something we take seriously. At the same time, this is a task that our health care and local infection prevention agencies can handle, and we have the procedures and systems in place to do so.”
Swedish authorities said the patient was infected during a visit to an area of Africa where lineage 1 is circulating and was diagnosed with the variant after receiving treatment in the Stockholm area.
African Concerns
Mpox has been spreading in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) since last year and has since spread to several African countries.
The virus has so far killed more than 500 people, mostly in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
In response, World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus declared a global emergency: “With more than 14,000 cases and 524 deaths, the situation constitutes a Public Health Emergency of International Concern,” he said.
Experts say MPOX can be transmitted through close contact, including sexual contact, and although symptoms are usually mild, in rare cases it can be fatal.
It causes flu-like symptoms and pus-filled lesions on the body.
Doctors say most MPOX patients who have healthy immune systems and no skin disease will find supportive care and pain relief helpful.
European Transmission
But the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said “if imported cases are rapidly diagnosed and measures are taken to control them, the likelihood of a sustained spread in Europe is very low.”
This is the second time in less than two years that a global emergency has been declared for MPOX, formerly known as monkeypox.
While the 2022 epidemic primarily affected gay men, this epidemic is different.
Experts say that lineage 1 cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo are mainly children infected with MPOX through contact with infected animals or transmission within the household.
Children in Congo are considered to be at higher risk because they live in overcrowded homes and displacement camps in the war-torn country, making it difficult for patients to self-isolate or seek medical care.