The European Centre for Disease Control (ECDC) now expects an increase in the number of cases of Mpox (monkeypox) in Europe. This was emphasized by former SPÖ leader and now ECDC director Pamela Rendi-Wagner. There is currently no risk of a situation like Corona, but Africa needs support.
The World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday activated its highest alert level over a new variant of the Mpox virus (monkeypox) in Africa, declaring a “public health emergency of international concern” (PHEIC).
“We are of course monitoring the situation in Africa together with the WHO and are also in close contact with the African Centre for Disease Control,” Rendi-Wagner explained on Friday in the Ö1 “Mittagsjournal”.
Quickly identify returning travelers with symptoms
People from Europe are only at ‘high risk’ of infection if they are planning a trip to the affected areas in Africa and ‘have close contact with the local population or frequent sexual contact’. Returning travellers with Mpox symptoms should be identified quickly.
More than 500 dead in Congo
“In Africa, the situation is completely different. In Congo alone, there are 16,000 suspected cases and over 500 deaths. “That’s a 160 percent increase compared to the previous year, and the number of unreported cases is probably much higher,” Rendi-Wagner said.
Vaccination campaigns
The outbreak in Africa is “anything but under control”. It is important to massively increase testing capacity and “install broad, rapid vaccination campaigns in Africa”. This requires the help and support of Europe and the US, which has already begun.
So far, 348 cases have been reported in Austria
In Austria, suspected cases, illnesses and deaths from Mpox have been reported since the accumulation of cases in Europe in 2022 and “the infection process is being closely monitored,” Health Minister Johannes Rauch (Greens) said on Friday. Since the global outbreak began two years ago, 348 cases of Mpox have been reported in Austria. Of these, eleven cases were registered in 2023 and ten cases so far in 2024.
The diagnostic facilities in Austria make it possible to type any Mpox infection; an infection with viruses of the new clade Ib variant would therefore be detectable, it was emphasized. An adjustment of the standard procedural instructions for the official procedure for Mpox (suspected) cases, which have been updated several times since 2022 and which regulate the handling of infected persons and contact persons, is “not considered necessary at this time”.
There are still 34,000 Mpox vaccine doses in stock in Austria
There are currently around 34,000 Mpox vaccination doses available in Austria. The majority of them are stored at minus 80 degrees and can therefore be kept for years. So far, around 6,900 Mpox vaccinations have been included in the e-vaccination certificate. “The vast majority of these were administered as part of the last major outbreak in 2022. Since then, demand has been very low,” the Ministry of Health said.
Source: Krone
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