The more aggressive variant of mpox, clade 1, has mainly affected eastern Congo-Kinshasa, but the virus is found in several other African countries. The only confirmed case in Europe so far appeared in Sweden in mid-August.
Despite Africa being the hardest hit, the continent has only received a fraction of the vaccines needed to slow the spread of the virus. This is especially true of Congo-Kinshasa, which has the most cases with more than 18,000 suspected cases and nearly 630 deaths, according to the World Health Organization.
– Many are critical of the fact that the outside world has allowed mpox to spread in Africa without taking proper action to try to prevent it, says SVT’s Africa correspondent Johan Ripås.
– The risk is, they say, that these new variants will eventually spread across the world.
“Can be stopped in six months”
Vaccine doses against mpox are expected to arrive in Congo-Kinshasa within the next few days, and the WHO hopes that the outbreaks can be stopped within the next six months.
“With the leadership of governments and close cooperation between our partners, we believe we can stop these outbreaks in the next six months,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a press briefing on Friday.
Outside Congo-Kinshasa, cases of mpox clade 1 have been confirmed in Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, Thailand and Sweden.
– The number of reported cases has risen rapidly over several weeks. Fortunately, with relatively few deaths in recent weeks, says the WHO Director-General.
Discovered in the 50s
Mpox was first discovered in monkeys in the late 50s, hence the former name monkeypox. After decades of mostly minor outbreaks in African countries, it was not until 2003 that a high-profile outbreak occurred in the United States.
In 2022 mpox spread over large parts of the world. That outbreak turned out to mainly affect gay men and an international emergency was declared. After vaccination campaigns and increased awareness, the infection leveled off, but even that variant remains and is milder.