Mpox risk low but imported cases may increase in Europe: EU agency

Health agency calls on European countries to be prepared for disease

BRUSSELS:

The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) on Wednesday said though the risk of mpox virus is low in Europe, imported cases may increase. 

In an online seminar, ECDC expert Orlando Cenciarelli said the overall risk for the European population is currently very low.

Emphasizing that the risk is higher for people who have been in contact with mpox patients though the disease will have a low course, he noted that only people with other underlying diseases and low immunity will have a “moderate and/or high” disease if infected.

The expert highlighted the likelihood of more imported cases following the detection of the continent's only case in Sweden on Aug. 15, stressing the need for European countries to be prepared to manage these cases and prevent further transmission.

Cenciarelli pointed out that vaccine should only be offered to people at risk of infection, those with severe illness, and those traveling to areas where transmission is likely and based on individual risk assessment.  

10 deaths in 2022

Marc-Alain Widdowson, World Health Organization (WHO) Europe officer, who also attended the seminar, said that a total of 27,000 cases were found on the continent in the summer of 2022 and 10 deaths were recorded.

Widdowson stated that the WHO believes that Europe can protect itself from the virus.

Last week, the WHO and Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention declared mpox a public health emergency of international and continental concern.

According to the latest Africa CDC figures, as many as 17, 541 mpox cases and 517 deaths have so far been reported from 13 African countries.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo, the epicenter of the current outbreak, accounts for 96% of all cases and 97% of all deaths reported in 2024.

Congo has recorded 16,700 confirmed or suspected cases of mpox, including more than 570 deaths.

South Africa recorded 24 confirmed cases, including three deaths, and Cameroon five confirmed cases, including two deaths. Burundi has over 100 cases, while Nigeria has 39, Liberia has five, Rwanda has four, Ivory Coast and Uganda have two each, and Kenya has one confirmed case.