United States: In recent reports, it is revealed that Sweden has become the first to be diagnosed with mpox outside Africa for a new clade 1, the variation that caused a huge outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and contiguous countries.
At the same time, US authorities unveil a disappointing trial of Tpoxx or tecovirimat against the deadlier form of the virus in DRC.
More about the news
As reported by the Public Health Agency of Sweden, the case patient was diagnosed and consulted by his physician in Stockholm; however, he had recently traveled to Africa, as reported in the press release.
Up to 2023, clade two has been identified in Sweden, mainly in the men who have sex with men group through sexual contact, and Sweden reported about 300 affected cases.
This is the first case of clade 1 in the country; thus, the patient was admitted to the isolation unit. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control stated today that further to the risk assessment of the Clade 1 mpox outbreak in Africa on 4 August, a new risk assessment will be published shortly.
According to Magnus Gisslen, MD, PhD, chief epidemiologist at the Public Health Agency of Sweden, “This case does not require any additional infection control measures in itself, but we take the outbreak of clade I mpox very seriously,” as cidrap.umn.edu reported.
“We are closely monitoring the outbreak, and we are continuously assessing whether new measures are needed,” he continued.
About WHO declaration
The Swedish case was confirmed the day after the World Health Organisation declared the outbreak in Africa as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC).
The declaration was made two years after the WHO announced the global outbreak of clade two mpox cases as PHEIC.
Subsequently, the mpox vaccine has been used in Europe and the United States to disrupt the chain of transmission. The distribution of doses to Africa has been slightly problematic; at least ten million doses are required for the current outbreaks in Africa, and only the DRC and Nigeria have started the regulatory process to enable their supplies to be used.
Moreover, Tim Nguyen, MPH, who leads the WHO’s High Impact Events Preparedness unit, said there are 500,000 doses of Bavarian Nordic’s Jynneos available, with another 2.4 million doses which could be developed if there are orders by the close of the year.
According to Brian Ferguson, PhD, an associate professor of immunology at the University of Cambridge, “The situation is concerning because of the spread of the clade 1b virus, which is considered to cause more severe disease, and because there are many children being infected in DRC during this new outbreak,” and, “40% of cases are in children under five years old,” as cidrap.umn.edu reported.