A new variant, highly infectious and deadly, has been attacking several African countries for months. A case was identified in Sweden on Thursday, the first in Europe.
Should we fear a new pandemic? The World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday triggered the highest level of global alert (clade 1b) due to the re-emergence of mpox (formerly known as “monkey pox”) cases caused by a new variant of the virus (clade 1b) previously concentrated on the African continent, as it already did in 2022. Now it is spreading to other countries. A case was identified in Pakistan on Friday, August 16, and another, the first in Europe, was identified in Sweden on Thursday. For its part, China has strengthened its border controls.
What do we know about this new epidemic wave? How is this disease spread? What are the symptoms? How to protect yourself from it? Francinfo looks at the most important questions.
Where does the mpox virus come from (why the name)?
The discovery of this viral infection dates back nearly seventy years. Mpox was first isolated from laboratory monkeys in Copenhagen (Denmark) in 1958. Pasteur remembers the institution. At that time, these animals had lesions on their skin similar to those left by human smallpox.
Its transmission to humans was first detected in 1970, in a 9-month-old baby in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), recalls Samir Elsayed, a professor of medicine. On the media website Conversation. Cases were reported in the following years, mostly in children under 10 years of age, in the DRC (then known as Zaire), Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Liberia and Sierra Leone, with many scientists reporting at the time. Bulletin of the World Health Organization. Human cases “Long confined to the African continent until 2003, several dozen cases occurred in the United States following contamination by prairie dogs.” who was “Housed with rodents imported from Ghana”Recalling an article published in French-speaking laboratory study In June 2023.
This virus, called “monkey pox” (“Monkey” In English) when it was discovered, it belonged to the same family as human smallpox, which was eradicated worldwide in the late 1970s, but in recent years many experts have ruled that its name was inappropriate. “It’s a very poorly named virus because its natural host is rodents like Gambian mice.”explained Olivier Schwartz, Director of the Virology and Immunity Unit at the Pasteur Institute, sent to franceinfo in June 2022. For this reason, avoid “Racist and derogatory language”This is WHO decided to rename the virus as “mpox”. In November 2022.
Why has WHO triggered its highest alert?
The new variant of the virus, called “clade 1b”, is more dangerous, more contagious and infects more people than the previous one. According to the mpox emergency committee, the current situation is “Public Health Emergency of International Concern”WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus wrote on Wednesday On that day. The organization is particularly concerned about the high mortality rate of this new strain, which can reach 5% in adults and 10% in children.
The African Union Health Organization reported on Tuesday that cases are expected to increase by 160% in 2024 compared to the previous year. “Number of registered cases [en RDC] Since the beginning of the year is already high” Total recorded in 2023 with “Over 15,600 cases and 537 deaths”Report I am OMS Wednesday.
Enables maximum alert triggering “Countries with vaccine stockpiles [de] Make Donations Fast”Details Sylvie Briand, WHO Director of the Department of Global Preparedness for Pandemic Risks, to franceinfo. “As the virus crosses borders, (…) it is also a question of ensuring the reduction of international transmission”.
In which countries is mpox currently spreading?
The new variant was first discovered in the DRC in September 2023 in displaced people’s camps around Goma, in the northeast of the country. However, the city has and is home to an international airport. In a conflict zone, the border of several countries. “Explosion risks are real due to mass movement of people”AFP Louis-Albert Massing, the country’s medical coordinator for Médecins sans frontières (MSF), underlined.
Within a few weeks, the virus had effectively spread across borders. According to Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus was quoted by AFP on Wednesday as saying, “In the past month, around 90 clade 1b cases have been reported in four neighboring countries that have not yet registered mpox. : Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda”.
In recent days, the virus has reached two new continents, with one case reported in Sweden on Thursday and another in Pakistan on Friday. “Additional imported clade 1 cases will be reported in the European region in the coming days and weeks.”The European branch of the WHO announced this in a press release on Thursday evening.
Isn’t there already an epidemic in recent years?
In the spring of 2022, A wave of mpox has affected parts of the world. Its spread was later qualified “extraordinary” By the WHO, it triggered a global health emergency in July.
But the epidemic, which affected about a hundred countries, was finally contained and the WHO warning was lifted in May 2023. A variant of the virus named “clade 2”, less common than clade 1b today, infected more than 87,000 people worldwide and caused 140 deaths between January 1, 2022 and May 8, 2023. According to statistics reported by I system (PDF).
In May 2023, more than 5,000 cases were registered in France. Read more on the Immunization Information Service website. No deaths have been reported Public Health France.
How is the disease spread?
Mpox is apparently transmitted by direct contact with infected animals. Regarding human-to-human transmission, The Ministry of Health It explains that this can happen directly or indirectly in three ways: “Un Prolonged face-to-face contact through respiratory droplets [salive, éternuements, postillons] or through direct contact with an infected person; through body fluids, disease or skin lesions from internal mucous membranes such as the mouth; Presumably by patient contaminated clothing or bedding.”
Earlier variants mainly affected homosexual and bisexual men. but with clade 1bMany cases of transmission during sexual intercourse or without sexual contact, especially between mothers and children or among children within schools, have been recorded. Several miscarriages have also been reported, and researchers are studying possible effects on fertility.
What are its symptoms?
Symptoms begin in a phase characterized by fever, chills, sweats, fatigue, and swollen lymph nodes that turn painful. Sore throat, cough and body aches are also reported by sick people.
Then, the pimples spread over the skin as a rash, sometimes itchy. They look like small bumps filled with pus or clear fluid and often appear on the face, palms, and feet. They scab over before healing over the following weeks. These vesicles can also colonize mucous membranes, including the oral and genital areas.
The incubation period of the virus can range from five to 21 days. “Therefore it is important to respect the isolation of patients for the entire duration of the disease (until the last scabs disappear, usually three weeks)”, The Ministry of Health has warned.
Although it is benign in most cases, this disease can lead to complications. In 2023 the institute pastor wroteIt lists specifically “Superinfections of the skin, septicemia, encephalitis or corneal involvement”. “Immunocompromised people, pregnant women and young children are at higher risk of developing a severe form of the disease.Refers to his area French Ministry of Health.
With new variant, WHO chief is wary: clade 1b “causes more severe disease than clade 2”. This leads to “Rash all over body”Trudy Long, a professor at the University of Oxford (United Kingdom), explained in an interview site of the Gavi system (Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization). According to him, the symptoms also persist “for a long time”. During the same interview, Leandre Murhula Masirika, who leads research at the TRC, said patients complain about side effects associated with infection. “Eye, skin or genital problems”.
Are there treatments or vaccines?
An antiviral agent initially designed to treat smallpox, administered in cases of severe infection, is approved to treat mpox, the Pasteur Institute recalls. For mild infections, there is no treatment, the symptoms disappear spontaneously, he insists I am OMS.
Two vaccines are available to prevent infection, but few doses are available in the most affected African countries. Patients vaccinated against smallpox at an early age had less severe symptoms, but the campaigns ended after the disease was eradicated in 1980. “So, currently, people between the ages of 40 and 50 (depending on the country) are most likely to be affected.”WHO mentions We are Also, the degree of effectiveness of these vaccines against the new variant of the virus is unknown. Therefore, it is necessary to focus on preventive measures by creating awareness and making people aware.
The Ministry of Health recalls that from July 2022, there is a specific listening device for the mpox virus, specifically to inform, advise and guide treatment methods. Monkeypox Information Service The toll-free number 0 801 90 80 69 is accessible 7 days a week, 8 AM to 11 PM.
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