A public health emergency declared by the World Health Organisation remains in place over a new outbreak of mpox in some African nations, with several cases now reported outside of the continent – including in London.
Formerly known as monkeypox, the infection has been on the rise in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which accounts for 96 per cent of all cases in Africa.
More than 17,000 cases have now been confirmed across the continent, with the WHO saying the outbreak is of “international concern”.
The outbreak comes as a new strain is identified, named clade 1b, said to be spreading mainly through sexual networks. WHO says it has been identified in Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda – all countries that have never reported cases of mpox before.
The public health emergency was declared by the group’s director general, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. WHO has now launched a ‘global strategic preparedness and response plan’ which aims to prevent the spread of the new strain.
“The mpox outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and neighbouring countries can be controlled, and can be stopped,” said Dr Tedros.
“Doing so requires a comprehensive and coordinated plan of action.”
The latest update from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control says that over 100,000 confirmed cases of monkeypox clade 1 and clade 2 have been indentified in over 120 countries, accounting for over 200 deaths.
One case of the clade 1b strain – which is of the most concern – was detected in Sweden in August, the country’s public health agency confirmed. They say the person, who was held in isolation, had contracted it during a stay in an African country where other cases have been reported.
There have also been confirmed cases of the strain in India and Thailand, although it is not believed to be spreading in either country.
And on 30 October, the UK Health Security Agency confirmed one case had been detected in London, in a person who had been on holiday in Africa and travelled back to the UK on an overnight flight nine days prior.
They developed flu-like symptoms more than 24 hours later and, on 24 October, started to develop a rash which worsened in the following days. They attended an emergency department in London on 27 October, where they were swabbed, tested and sent home to isolate while waiting for the results.
Here is a map of all the places where cases of clade 1b have now been confirmed:
Dr Tedros 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.
“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.”
The organisation is working with nations worldwide to coordinate accelerated vaccine access and containment measures. They say an initial sum of $15m will be required for an effective response.
Responding to the outbreak, the US government said the risk to the general public is “very low” with no cases of clade I reported there. However, the nation has seen 1,399 cases of other mpox strains since the start of the year, nearly level with the DRC.
A US spokesperson said: “In addition to ongoing health support, in the last few months the United States has provided an additional $17m (£13.1m ) to support clade I mpox preparedness and response efforts in Central and Eastern Africa.
“The funding has enabled stronger surveillance, risk communication, and community engagement, as well as needed laboratory supplies and diagnostics, clinical services, and vaccine planning.”
So far, the risk assessment for the entire world has been set to ‘moderate’, with cases of clade I being largely located in the DRC and neighbouring countries.
