Key Points
- The ECDC warned about possible imported cases of the mpox virus, but said the overall risk was "low".
- Sweden has confirmed an infection with strain Clade 1b, the first sign of its spread outside the African continent.
- The recent mpox outbreak has been declared a public health emergency by the World Health Organisation.
Health authorities warned Friday that Europe must be ready for more cases of a deadly strain of mpox that has killed hundreds of people in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
A first case of the more deadly strain to be recorded outside Africa was announced in Sweden, while Pakistan has detected a case with the strain still under investigation.
The Stockholm-based European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said the overall risk in Europe was "low". But it warned that "effective surveillance, laboratory testing, epidemiological investigation and contact tracing capacities will be vital to detecting cases."
"Due to the close links between Europe and Africa, we must be prepared for more imported Clade 1 cases," ECDC director Pamela Rendi-Wagner said in a statement.
The World Health Organisation (WHO), which of international concern, urged pharmaceutical firms to ramp up vaccine production.
China said it would screen travellers for the disease. However, the WHO has advised against any travel restrictions to stop the spread of the virus.
The disease, caused by the monkeypox virus, leads to flu-like symptoms and pus-filled lesions.
It is usually mild but can kill, with children, pregnant women and people with weakened immune systems, such as those with HIV, all at higher risk of complications.
First cases confirmed in Sweden and Pakistan
Sweden's Public Health Agency announced Thursday it had registered an Infection with strain Clade 1b, the first sign of its spread outside the African continent.
The patient was infected during a visit to "the part of Africa where there is a major outbreak of mpox Clade 1", epidemiologist Magnus Gisslen said in a statement.
The WHO's European regional office in Copenhagen said the Sweden case was "a clear reflection of the interconnectedness of our world", but added travel restrictions and border closures "don't work and should be avoided".
Olivia Wigzell, acting director general of Sweden's Public Health Agency, offered a press meeting to inform about the situation regarding mpox after the country confirmed its first case of the more contagious variant. Source: EPA / Fredrik Sandberg
The sequencing of the confirmed case was underway, a health ministry spokesperson said, and it would not be clear which variant of mpox the patient had until the process was complete.
A health officer in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Mardan district said the location of the confirmed mpox patient was unknown. The national health ministry said it was carrying out contact tracing of the patient it had identified.
