In July 2022, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general of the World Health Organization, declared a public health emergency of international concern after an upsurge in mpox (formerly known as monkeypox) cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where the virus has been responsible for at least 450 deaths since 2022.
During his declaration, Adhanom Ghebreyesus said: “The emergence of a new clade of mpox, its rapid spread in eastern DRC, and the reporting of cases in several neighbouring countries are very worrying.
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“On top of outbreaks of other mpox clades in DRC and other countries in Africa, it’s clear that a coordinated international response is needed to stop these outbreaks and save lives”.
On 14 August 2024, the first case of the new mpox strain was detected outside of Africa, in Sweden, in a patient who had reportedly recently returned from travelling in Africa.
The European Centre for Disease Control (ECDC) is urging countries to implement effective surveillance, laboratory surveillance testing, epidemiological tracing, and contact tracing.
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“Due to the close links between Europe and Africa, we [Europe] must be prepared for more imported clade I cases,” said ECDC director Pamela Rendi-Wagner.
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By GlobalDataLeading data and analytics company GlobalData‘s epidemiologists expect that without sufficient preparation, the UK and other European countries could see an upsurge in cases of mpox, especially in areas with large immigrant populations.
The mpox virus is typically transmitted from person to person via close physical contact and contact with bodily fluids, but can also be transmitted through contact with infected surfaces or via infected animals.
A sore, blistering rash that persists for two to four weeks tends to be the initial symptom of mpox.
The patient then typically develops a fever, headache, muscle aches, back pain, low energy, and swollen glands.
In some cases, the virus will subside after treating these symptoms.
However, in more severe cases, there are further complications such as widespread lesions, which may cause widespread infection and can sometimes be fatal.
Newborn babies, children, people who are pregnant, and people with immune deficiencies such as HIV infection, are more vulnerable to severe mpox infections.
In 2022, there was an mpox outbreak in the UK.
According to GlobalData epidemiologists, there were 3,739 cases of mpox recorded in the UK from May to August.
This outbreak was defined as a level two outbreak, as cases were mostly identified in men who have sex with men connected by sexual networks.
There are currently no cases of mpox in the UK.
While the deputy director of the UK Health Security Agency, Dr Meera Chand, claims the risk “is currently considered low”, it is important that vulnerable groups, including immunocompromised people and MSM, are made aware of the risks and are familiar with the symptoms of mpox so that they can prevent possible transmission.
People travelling through high-risk areas should also be made aware so they can avoid travelling if they have symptoms aligned with those of mpox.
