Monkeypox virus outbreak: WHO declares outbreak an international health emergency

Dr Jonas Albarnaz, a research fellow specialising in smallpox viruses at the Pirbright Institute, said the clade 1b case in Sweden was “worrying for two main reasons”.

“First, this is the first case of Group 1 MPOX virus outside Africa. This suggests that the extent of international spread of the Group 1 outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo may be larger than we knew yesterday.

“And second, the clade 1 Mpox virus is associated with more severe disease and higher mortality rates than the clade 2 virus responsible for the international Mpox outbreak in 2022.”

Michael Marks, Professor of Medicine at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), said: “It is clear that this is the largest MPOX outbreak reported from the region.

“It is also the largest Mpox virus of clade 1, which is traditionally associated with a higher fatality rate than clade 2, which caused the major global outbreak in 2022.”

The new strain of Mpox is known as clade 1b and emerged in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) last year, according to the WHO.

The disease is currently spreading rapidly to neighboring African countries, mainly through sexual networks; however, a case has now also been confirmed in Europe.

Health experts recommend getting vaccinated if you are at high risk and avoiding contact with affected people.

To prevent the spread of infection, it is recommended to wash hands frequently and wear a face mask in crowded spaces and indoors.

The Philippines has detected its first case of MPOX since the World Health Organization (WHO) issued its highest alert for the virus last week.

This is the first reported case since December last year, Manila's health ministry said on Monday, adding that they were still waiting for test results before determining the virus variant.

The patient was identified as a 33-year-old Filipino man who had never left the Philippines, the Department of Health (DOH) said. “We are awaiting the sequencing results and will update once they are available,” said spokesman Albert Domingo.

The man's symptoms began more than a week ago with a fever, followed four days later by a “significant rash on the face, back, neck, trunk, groin, palms and soles of the feet,” the Philippine Department of Health said in a statement.

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Experts said the new variant was “associated with more severe disease and higher mortality rates” than the variant that caused the global Mpox outbreak in 2022.

Swedish health authorities announced on Thursday that there had been a confirmed class 1b case.

The country's health authority said a patient had received medical treatment in Stockholm and probably became infected during a visit to Africa.

Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty has met with government ministers to assess the UK's preparedness for a possible outbreak of the new Mpox variant.

The WHO has confirmed more than 17,000 MPOX cases and 571 deaths in Africa this year after the new clade 1b variant emerged.

Pat McFadden, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, met with ministers from the Department of Health, the Foreign Office and the UK's chief medical officer, Mr Whitty.

They had discussed ways “to ensure that adequate plans are in place to deal with all potential cases,” Downing Street said.

Mpox was first detected in humans in 1970 in the Democratic Republic of Congo and is considered endemic in the countries of Central and West Africa.

However, the WHO said on Wednesday that the recent increase in cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the spread of the disease to neighboring countries constituted a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) under the International Health Regulations (2005).

According to the WHO, there have been reports of MPOX in the Democratic Republic of Congo for more than ten years, with the number of cases steadily increasing during this period.

So far in 2024, there have been more than 15,600 MPOX cases and 537 deaths, exceeding the previous year's total, according to the WHO.

In addition, there were 100 laboratory-confirmed group 1b cases in four countries neighboring the Democratic Republic of Congo where no Mpox cases had been previously reported: Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda.

The first case of a new infectious Mpox strain was detected in Europe after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreaks in Africa a global emergency.

Experts said the new variant was “associated with more severe disease and higher mortality rates” than the variant that caused the global Mpox outbreak in 2022.

The new strain of Mpox is known as clade 1b and emerged in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) last year, according to the WHO.

According to the WHO, the disease is currently spreading rapidly to neighboring African countries, especially through sexual networks; one case has been confirmed in Europe.

Due to a new MPOX outbreak in several African countries, the World Health Organization has declared a public health emergency; at least three cases have now been reported outside the continent.

The infectious disease formerly known as monkeypox is on the rise in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where 96 percent of all cases in Africa are found.

More than 17,000 cases have now been confirmed across the continent and the WHO has declared the outbreak to be of “international concern.”

The group’s Director General, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, had declared a health emergency.

The outbreak came after a new strain called Clade 1 was identified, which is believed to spread primarily through sexual networks. According to the WHO, it has been identified in Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda – all countries where no cases of MPOX have been reported before.

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