Mpox Variant Discovered Outside Africa On A Traveler To Sweden
The Swedish case marks the first time the virus has spread outside of Africa. This comes as Pakistan health officials say they've detected the virus in their country. Meanwhile, the world and vaccine makers are responding after the World Health Organization declared mpox a health emergency.
The Washington Post:
Sweden Detects Mpox Variant For The First Time Outside Of Africa
Swedish officials said Thursday they have detected a version of mpox that only a day earlier prompted global health authorities to declare a health emergency, marking the first time that variant has been discovered outside of Africa. Swedish officials said the patient was infected during a stay in a part of Africa where clade 1 is circulating and was diagnosed with that variant after seeking care in the Stockholm region. That patient has received care, said Magnus Gisslen, state epidemiologist at the Public Health Agency of Sweden. (Nirappil, 8/15)
Reuters:
Mpox Virus Detected In Pakistan, Health Authorities Say
Pakistan's health ministry has confirmed at least one case of the mpox virus in a patient who had returned from a Gulf country, it said on Friday, as provincial health authorities reported they had detected at least three cases. A health ministry spokesperson said the sequencing of the confirmed case was underway, and that it would not be clear which variant of mpox the patient had until the process was complete. (Ali and Greenfield, 8/16)
Reuters:
China To Monitor Arrivals Of People, Goods For Mpox Virus
China will monitor people and goods entering the country for mpox for the next six months, a statement from its customs administration said on Friday, after the WHO said the virus was again a global health emergency. "Personnel from countries with monkeypox outbreaks who have been in contact with monkeypox cases or display symptoms ... should take the initiative to declare themselves to Customs," it said. The WHO changed the name of monkeypox to mpox. (8/15)
USA Today:
As Mpox Outbreak Spreads Beyond Africa, How Is The US Preparing?
On Thursday, Swedish officials said they recorded their first case of mpox, which spreads with skin contact. The announcement came a day after the World Health Organization issued its second emergency declaration in two years due to the recent outbreak in and around the Democratic Republic of Congo, in central Africa. The mpox virus circulating in Congo and a dozen other African countries, and now Sweden, is a different strain than the one that has circulated in the U.S. since a global outbreak began in 2022. (Cuevas, 8/15)
On mpox vaccines and treatments —
Bloomberg:
Mpox Outbreak: Response Delayed With Congo Yet To Request For Shots
Mpox vaccine donations, the fastest way to get shots to the Democratic Republic of Congo, are being held up because the African nation is yet to make a formal request, according to the head of the global vaccination partnership. ... The US announced Wednesday it would donate 50,000 doses to Congo to help the country handle the the fast-spreading outbreak that was declared a global public health emergency by the World Health Organization. (Furlong, 8/15)
Reuters:
Mpox: Vaccine Group Gavi Says It Has Up To $500 Million For Shots
The global vaccine group Gavi has up to $500 million to spend on getting shots to countries affected by an escalating mpox outbreak in Africa, its chief executive Sania Nishtar told Reuters. Gavi helps countries with fewer resources buy and deploy vaccines, usually against childhood diseases like measles, but it expanded into broader efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic. (Rigby, 8/16)
Stat:
Poxvirus Vaccine Maker Could Boost Doses By 8 Million Next Year
STAT caught up with CEO Paul Chaplin on Thursday to ask what Bavarian Nordic can actually produce — if purchasers place orders. To date the only order the company has received is one for 175,000 placed by the European Union’s Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA), which it is donating to the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. BN, as Chaplin refers to the company, has topped that up with a donation of 40,000 doses. The combined purchases and donation equal 215,000 doses, enough vaccine to vaccinate 107, 500 people. Jynneos is given in two doses. (Branswell, 8/16)
Bloomberg:
Mpox: Vaccine Maker Bavarian Wants Jab Approved For Adolescents
Bavarian Nordic A/S, the only company with a vaccine approved for mpox in the US and Europe, wants permission to use the jab for adolescents as a new variant of the virus spreads. Bavarian will submit clinical data to the European Medicines Agency to support the extension to include people at age 12 to 17 in Europe, the company, which is based north of Copenhagen, said on Friday. (Wienberg and Wass, 8/16)
Stat:
Antiviral Medication For Mpox No Better Than Placebo, NIH Says
The National Institutes of Health said Thursday that an antiviral often used to treat mpox did not resolve patients’ symptoms faster than placebo in a randomized trial. The results are notable because the drug, tecovirimat, has rarely been studied clinically for mpox, despite its wide use during the 2022 and 2023 outbreaks in the U.S. and Europe. (Mast, 8/15)
