MPOX expansion requires unified response, but no panic: WHO

The arrival of the new MPOX variant in Europe is a clear sign that containing the spread of the disease, formerly known as monkeypox, will require a unified international response, the World Health Organization (WHO) said Friday, urging people not to panic.

“The identification of the first mpox clade (variant) 1b infection in Sweden underlines the need for affected countries to tackle the virus together”said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

He encouraged all countries to improve surveillance, share existing data and work to better understand transmission, as well as share existing vaccines.

WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris told international reporters in Geneva that there was no need to panic over reports of people being infected by shaking hands with an infected person who had not yet developed a rash.

“We often have these kinds of alarmist examples, but this is spread through very close contact, we see it in homes, from mothers to children, through sexual relations or through sheets or clothes of someone infected,” he explained.

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One day after the Swedish case became known, Pakistani authorities reported on Friday the first confirmed case of mpox reported in Asia since the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a global emergency due to this disease.

“A patient has been confirmed to have the mpox virus”said Health Ministry spokesman Sajid Shah, adding that the patient had recently returned from a Gulf country.

In addition, samples of two other patients from the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province have been sent to the National Institute of Health to confirm the presence of the virus, he said.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), which is working with African relief societies to control MPOX, said today in Geneva that the disease particularly affects marginalized communities, which need clear information on how to protect themselves and identify symptoms.

They also need to be convinced that they should seek medical attention when there are signs of infection, which requires fighting the stigma surrounding this disease, which is the main reason why people do not seek help.

IFRC health emergencies specialist Bronwyn Nichol said it was no surprise that the virus had emerged in Europe, but stressed that this should not discourage countries with vaccine stocks from donating to Africa, where the virus is circulating widely.

According to the WHO, there are currently half a million doses of one of the two fast-track MPOX vaccines in stock, with the potential for production of an additional 2.5 million doses next year.

Harris did not provide information on which countries have doses of the first vaccine, although she said there were “promises” of donations for Africa.

A second type of vaccine was produced on behalf of Japan but has not been marketed, and the WHO hopes that Japan will also be able to share it.