EU health body raises mpox risk alert level after new strain found in Sweden

The European Centre (EU) for Disease Prevention and Control on Friday raised its risk level for mpox, a day after global health officials confirmed one case of infection with a new strain of the virus in Sweden, the first outside Africa.

The EU public health body's head said there will be more imported cases of the new mpox strain in Europe in the coming weeks, though the risk of sustained transmission remains low.

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday declared mpox a global public health emergency, its highest form of alert, following an outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo that has spread to neighbouring countries.

Mpox, a viral infection that causes pus-filled lesions and flu-like symptoms, is usually mild but can kill. Two strains are now spreading in Congo — the endemic form of the virus, clade I, and a new offshoot called clade Ib.

The ECDC on Friday raised its risk level assessment for mpox to "moderate" from "low" for sporadic cases appearing in the bloc, and asked countries to maintain high levels of awareness among travellers visiting from affected areas.

"Due to the close links between Europe and Africa, we must be prepared for more imported clade I cases," its director Pamela Rendi Wagner said.

In Pakistan, at least three patients have been diagnosed with the monkeypox virus, health authorities in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province confirmed on Friday.

The first case of the year was a patient who had returned from a Gulf country, though it was not clear whether it was of the new variant or of the clade that has been spreading globally since 2022.

WHO official Margaret Harris said on a media call on Friday that she expects more cases outside Africa to emerge soon, also as a result of heightened monitoring.

However, the WHO has advised against any travel restrictions to stop the spread of the virus.

China said on Friday it plans to monitor people and goods entering the country for mpox for the next six months.

Diagnostics

Far more diagnostic kits, treatments and vaccines need to be shipped to Africa to respond adequately to the outbreak of the new strain of the mpox virus there, an official of the Red Cross and Red Crescent humanitarian network said on Friday.

The head of global vaccine group Gavi told Reuters it has up to $500 million to spend on getting shots to countries affected by the escalating outbreak in Africa.

Shares in pharmaceutical companies developing mpox vaccines rose on Friday.

Danish biotech firm Bavarian Nordic's BAVA shares soared more than 15% after it said it had submitted data to the EU's drug regulator for approval to extend the use of its mpox and smallpox vaccine to adolescents aged 12 to 17 years.

Shares in New Jersey-based Tonix Pharmaceuticals also leapt after the company said it will advance development of its mpox vaccine candidate.

"We are motivated to advance development for our mpox vaccine with urgency given the global public health emergency," its CEO Seth Lederman said.