Briefing journalists in Geneva, Dr. Hans Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe, insisted that the risk from mpox to the general population was \u201clow\u201d.<\/p>\n
He rejected comparisons between the fast-spreading viral disease which the agency\u00a0declared an international public health emergency last week, and the COVID-19 pandemic, \u201cregardless of whether it\u2019s mpox clade 1, behind the ongoing outbreak in east-central Africa, or mpox clade 2, behind the 2022 outbreak that initially impacted Europe and has continued to circulate in Europe since\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know how to control mpox – and in the European region – the steps needed to eliminate its transmission altogether<\/strong>,\u201d Dr. Kluge continued.\u00a0<\/p>\n Current scientific knowledge about the virus indicates that it primarily transmits through skin-to-skin contact with mpox lesions, including during sex. The UN health agency official\u2019s reply to questions about whether Europe would experience COVID-like lockdowns was an unequivocal \u201cno\u201d<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Speaking via video link from Copenhagen, Dr. Kluge recalled that the 2022 European mpox outbreak was brought under control \u201cthanks to the direct engagement with the most affected communities of men who have sex with men\u201d.<\/p>\n He cited \u201cbehaviour change, non-discriminatory public health action and mpox vaccination\u201d as factors of success in Europe in 2022. However, the region \u201cfailed to go the last mile\u201d to quash the disease and is currently seeing some 100 new mpox clade 2 cases every month<\/strong>, he said.<\/p>\n A sample is taken from a person with mpox.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Last week, Sweden became the first country outside Africa to record a case of the mpox clade 1 variant at the centre of the latest outbreak, which has been spreading from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to neighbouring countries. The Swedish case concerned a person who had travelled to an affected area of Africa.<\/p>\n The current state of alert due to clade 1, which is considered to be more severe, gives European health authorities the opportunity to also strengthen focus on clade 2 and eliminate it \u201conce and for all,\u201d Dr. Kluge urged.<\/p>\n The UN health agency representative called specifically for European solidarity with Africa, notably regarding equitable access to vaccines<\/strong>.<\/p>\n WHO recommends the use of MVA-BN or LC16 vaccines, or the ACAM2000 vaccine when the others are not available. These have originally been developed against the now-eradicated disease smallpox.<\/p>\n WHO spokesperson Tarik Ja\u0161arevi\u0107 said that the producer of MVA-BN, Bavarian Nordic, \u201chas capacity to manufacture 10 million doses by end of 2025 and can already supply up to two million doses this year\u201d. As for LC16, which is a vaccine produced on behalf of the Government of Japan, he underscored that there is a \u201cconsiderable\u201d stockpile of this vaccine.<\/p>\n \u201cJapan has been very generous in the past with donations\u201d and is currently in negotiations with the DRC Government, he said.<\/p>\n The DRC has reported more than 15,600 mpox cases so far this year and some 540 deaths<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Monkeypox lesions often appear on the palms of hands.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Last week, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus triggered an \u201cEmergency Use Listing\u201d process for mpox vaccines, designed to accelerate access for lower-income countries which have not yet issued their own regulatory approval.<\/p>\n The measure also makes it possible for UN health agency partners such as Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance and the UN Children\u2019s Fund (UNICEF) to procure vaccines for distribution.<\/p>\n Dr. Kluge mentioned that the European Union (EU) is already donating vaccines, which made him \u201coptimistic\u201d, but that this generosity will be put to the test if more vaccines are needed in the EU.<\/p>\n And although vaccines are essential, they are \u201cjust some of the tools,\u201d said WHO\u2019s Mr. Ja\u0161arevi\u0107, alongside contact tracing, strong surveillance, public health measures and adequate clinical care for those who need it.<\/p>\n He mentioned that a positive legacy of the COVID-19 response was improved laboratory capacity around the world allowing to better detect various viruses.<\/p>\nTransmission pattern<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Mutation discovered<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Smallpox vaccines work<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"Monkeypox](\"https:\/\/global.unitednations.entermediadb.net\/assets\/mediadb\/services\/module\/asset\/downloads\/preset\/Libraries\/Production%20Library\/24-05-2022_CDC_monkeypox.jpg\/image1170x530cropped.jpg\" "\\"Monkeypox")
\n<\/div>\nInternational response triggered<\/strong><\/h2>\n