Monkeypox virus particles under a microscope, published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Photo: VCG
Thailand has confirmed the first case in Asia of the MPOX virus, a new strain of the virus that has changed its transmission pattern and may be more contagious and deadly.
Experts have pointed out that children are more likely to be infected in this outbreak because they have relatively weak immune systems.
According to BBC News, the Thai Department of Disease Control confirmed on Thursday that a 66-year-old European patient who had traveled to Thailand from Africa was infected with clade Ib, a new and more deadly strain of MPOX, the first in Asia and the second outside of Africa.
A week ago, Sweden became the first place outside the African continent to confirm a case of clade Ib.
The Swedish Ministry of Health said the infected man had also recently travelled to an unnamed African country, the BBC reported.
According to Dr. Zhao Lei of Wuhan Union Hospital in China, previous infections with the MPOX virus have mainly been through direct or sexual contact.
However, the lineage Ib variant identified in Thailand is more contagious and threatening, and can be transmitted by infected animals and from person to person via close contact, human secretions (such as respiratory droplets), rashes, or contaminated objects.
Women and children under the age of 15 are most affected by the MPOX epidemic, the People's Daily reported, citing WHO figures.
Lu Hongzhou, director of Shenzhen Third People's Hospital, said many children in Africa have not received the smallpox vaccine and that the shot is effective.
Moreover, children, especially those in Africa, tend to have relatively weaker immune systems and are often poorly nourished, Lu told the Global Times on Monday.
Given the overcrowded living conditions in which many children in Africa live, and are likely to share the same rooms, there is a high risk of the virus spreading through close contact between family members if one becomes infected, Lu said.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has declared the MPOX outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC), marking the second time since 2022 that WHO has declared an MPOX virus outbreak a PHEIC.
According to China Central Television, the WHO has launched the Global Smallpox Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan (SRSP), which seeks approximately $135 million to contain new smallpox outbreaks by implementing a comprehensive surveillance and response strategy and promoting equitable access to smallpox research and medical countermeasures.
As of July, a total of 99,176 laboratory-confirmed cases of monkeypox, including 208 deaths, had been reported to the UN health agency from 116 countries in all WHO regions.
On August 17, AFP reported that WHO spokesperson Margaret Harris called on manufacturers to scale up production of the MPOX vaccine.
The WHO also called on countries with monkeypox vaccine stockpiles to donate them to countries where the outbreak is ongoing, according to AFP.
