Europe braces for deadly mpox strain as WHO declares global health emergency

WHO urges swift vaccine production as a lethal mpox strain recorded in Sweden, Pakistan; China to screen travellers

Health authorities issued a warning on Friday that Europe must prepare for more cases of a deadly strain of mpox, which has caused hundreds of deaths in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

The World Health Organisation (WHO) called on pharmaceutical companies to increase vaccine production, and China announced it would screen travellers following the first cases of the more lethal strain recorded outside Africa, in Sweden and Pakistan.

The specific mpox strain involved in the case in Pakistan was not immediately identified on Friday, according to the health ministry. The patient, a 34-year-old man, had recently returned from a Gulf country and is the first confirmed mpox case in Pakistan this year, stated Irshad Roghani, the director of public health in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where the man is currently receiving treatment.

French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal stated that France is on "highest alert" and plans to implement new travel recommendations. Mpox, a virus transmitted from animals to humans and through close human contact, causes fever, muscle aches, and large skin lesions. The WHO recently declared the rapid spread of the Clade 1b strain an international public health emergency, its highest alert level.

This declaration follows the spread of the more deadly mpox from the DRC to other African countries. WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris emphasized the need for increased vaccine production and urged countries with stockpiles to donate them to those experiencing outbreaks. Mpox is especially dangerous for individuals with weakened immune systems, such as those with HIV or malnutrition, and poses a significant risk to small children.

The United States pledged 50,000 doses of an mpox vaccine to the DRC, and France committed to sending vaccines to at-risk countries. Danish pharmaceutical company Bavarian Nordic announced its readiness to produce up to 10 million doses of its mpox vaccine by 2025, pending contracts.

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) assessed the overall risk in Europe as "low" but stressed the importance of surveillance and contact tracing to detect cases. With close ties between Europe and Africa, the ECDC warned of potential imported cases. The DRC reported 548 deaths from mpox this year, with outbreaks also recorded in Nigeria, Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda.