HQ Team
August 15, 2024: Sweden confirmed its first case of the most virulent form of Mpox Thursday, a viral infection found in Africa. This is the first such case reported outside the continent.
The person contacted the infection on a visit to Africa, Olivia Wigzell, director-general at the Swedish public health agency, said in a press release.
“We have now also during the afternoon had confirmation that we have one case in Sweden of the more grave type of mpox, the one called clade I,” Jakob Forssmed, the health and social affairs minister, told a news conference.
“The case is the first caused by clade I that has been diagnosed outside the African continent. The affected person has also been infected during a stay in an area of Africa where there is a large outbreak of mpox clade I,” Wigzell said
This report comes on the heels of the World Health Organization’s declaration of Mpox as a global health emergency for the second time as the disease spreads to more parts of Africa.
Mpox or monkeypox cases have seen a 160% surge in the African region this year, according to the African Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Officials of Africa CDC said that Mpox has now been detected in 11 African countries this year, including Congo, which has seen the highest number of cases.
Earlier this year, scientists reported the emergence of a new and deadlier version of Mpox in a Congolese mining town. Analysis of the new virus among patients has attributed the genetic mutations to the rapid spread of the virus.
Mpox
Mpox is caused by the monkeypox virus and is transmitted by close contact between individuals or with infected animals. It has been endemic in Central Africa and West Africa since the 1970s and spread rapidly around the world in 2022 and 2023. The recent spread is of a West African variant reported in more than 110 countries.
The epidemic is spreading in areas with a wide range of demographic and geographical characteristics and it is imperative that medical staff be trained on aspects of isolation, primary care, raising awareness and increased laboratory facilities.
Mpox vaccine situation
The Mpox vaccine situation in Africa is marked by a severe shortage and inequitable access. The manufacturing of vaccines, primarily by Bavarian Nordic, has not met the urgent needs of African countries
The German biotechnology company, BioNTech SE announced a $ 90 million program in partnership with the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) to develop a vaccine for Mpox.
The Mpox vaccine program, labelled as BNT166 is part of BioNTech’s efforts to develop a prophylactic vaccine for a range of infectious diseases with a high medical need, according to a BioNTech statement. The vaccine is at the Phase 1/2 clinical trial stage for its mRNA-based mpox vaccine candidate BNT166.
