1200 new cases

Mpox virus spreads in African countries

An Mpox treatment in the Democratic Republic of Congo(Bild: AFP/Guerchom Ndebo)

The Mpox virus is currently spreading in several African countries. In the past week, 1200 new suspected or confirmed infections have been registered. There are three different subspecies.

Since the beginning of the year, a total of 18,737 cases have been registered on the continent, which is several thousand more than in the entire previous year. As reported, the World Health Organization (WHO) had declared the highest alert level due to the spread of the new Mpox variant 1b in several African countries. The disease was known for decades as monkeypox and can be transmitted from animals, but also from person to person if there is close physical contact.

Symptoms include smallpox-like pustules on the skin, fever and aching limbs (see video above). In the Democratic Republic of Congo, 24 people died last week as a result of a 1b infection.

Mpox treatment in the Democratic Republic of the Congo(Bild: AFP/Guerchom Ndebo)

Case in Sweden
On Thursday, Sweden became the first country in Europe to report a case of infection with the same variant. The infected person is a traveler returning from the affected part of Africa.

Vaccine manufacturers "really need to ramp up production so that we have access to many, many more vaccines", said WHO spokesperson Margaret Harris on Friday. The organization is already in contact with the Japanese government to facilitate the distribution of vaccine doses. In addition, the Danish-German vaccine manufacturer Bavarian Nordic has a stockpile of 500,000 doses.

Aid organizations have called on manufacturers to lower their prices or even donate doses, as these are not affordable for most African countries.