Why the current Mpox outbreak is inflicting concern amongst well being specialists

Colorized transmission electron microscopy image of Mpox virus particles (red) found in an infected cell (blue) cultured in the laboratory.

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An escalating Mpox outbreak is raising concerns among some health experts, who warn that the latest variant of the virus could spread faster and be more deadly than an earlier outbreak in 2022.

The World Health Organization declared Mpox a global health emergency last week after an outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) spread to neighboring countries.

Since the new outbreak, cases have also been detected in countries where MPOX is not endemic, such as Sweden, Pakistan and Thailand. However, it is unclear which strain has been detected in some of these countries.

Mpox is a viral infection The disease is spread through close contact and causes flu-like symptoms and pus-filled lesions. Although it is usually mild, it can be fatal.

WHO Director for Europe Dr. Hans Kluge said on Tuesday that the outbreak was “not the new Covid” and that it could be stopped through international cooperation.

However, health experts warn of the “many unknowns” surrounding the latest outbreak – and in particular a new sub-variant – that could make containment difficult.

“Clade 1b has only recently emerged and there are still many unknowns that need to be addressed,” said Trudie Lang, professor of global health and director of the Global Health Network at the University of Oxford.

“There is new evidence of differences in transmission and symptoms, such as more frequent transmission from person to person and from mother to child during pregnancy,” she said.

There are essentially two types of Mpox, called clades. The most recent outbreak has been identified as clade 1. Compared to the 2022 strain, clade 2, the current strain, appears to spread more easily and has a higher mortality rate.

A newly identified subvariant of clade 1b is particularly common among young people and appears to spread through sexual networks, said Jonas Albarnaz, a research fellow specializing in smallpox viruses at the Pirbright Institute.

However, he noted that more data is needed to understand transmission dynamics and “develop control strategies.”

Countries at greater risk

Clade 1 is already known to cause more severe disease in young children, pregnant women and immunocompromised people. This has accelerated the outbreak in countries where certain diseases are more common and where health systems are weaker.

“Given that Mpox disease is more severe in immunocompromised individuals, it is also concerning that the current outbreak is occurring in a region where HIV prevalence is relatively high but access to antiretroviral drugs is poor,” said Brian Ferguson, associate professor of immunology at the University of Cambridge.

Ongoing conflicts in parts of Africa – such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, where many displaced people have been resettled in refugee camps – have also worsened sanitary conditions and accelerated the spread of the disease.

According to the WHO, more than 15,000 cases and at least 537 deaths have been reported so far this year in connection with the outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, with more cases reported elsewhere.

Ferguson said more cases were likely to be identified in the coming days and weeks because there were no controls in place to prevent the spread from country to country. He also said no lessons had been learned from the previous outbreak, which was declared a public health emergency in July 2022 before the classification was lifted in May 2023.

“The lack of action in the meantime has led to what could now develop into a new global outbreak. There should have been a greater effort to produce and distribute vaccines in the affected areas, but that has not happened,” he said.

Vaccines for younger people

The company had previously submitted data to the European Union Medicines Agency on Friday on expanding the use of its Mpox vaccine for adolescents.

CEO Paul Chaplin told CNBC at the time that approval for 12- to 17-year-olds was critical to containing the outbreak of the latest virus variant.

“More than 70 percent of cases in Africa currently affect people under 18, so it is crucial that our vaccine can also be used in this younger age group,” he said.