WHO Europe chief says mpox 'is not the new COVID'

By Peter Kenny

GENEVA (AA) - The Europe chief of the World Health Organization (WHO) said Tuesday that mpox, declared a public health emergency of international concern by the health body, "is not the new COVID."

"Mpox is not the new Covid, regardless of whether it's pox clade I, behind the ongoing outbreak in East and Central Africa, or pox clade II, behind the 2022 outbreak that initially impacted Europe and has continued to circulate there," said Hans Kluge, explaining different variants of the disease.

"Based on what we do know, mpox primarily transmits through skin-to-skin contact with lesions, including during sex."

According to the WHO, one of the Declaration of Global Health Emergency goals is for all countries to be alert and ready should any pox cases come to their territory.

"We know how to control mpox, and, in the European Region, the steps needed to eliminate its transmission altogether," said Kluge.

WHO says on its website that of the confirmed cases in the WHO African region in 2024, 95% were reported in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), which is experiencing an upsurge of mpox cases.

It has more than 15,000 clinically compatible cases and over 500 deaths reported, already exceeding the number of cases observed in the DRC in 2023.

Also, this year, cases of mpox, linked to one variant of mpox, have so far been reported in the Central African Republic and the Republic of Congo, and cases linked to another variant have been reported in Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire, Liberia, Nigeria, and South Africa.

On Aug. 15, Sweden became the first country outside the African continent to confirm the mpox clade 1b variant in an individual with a travel history to central Africa, according to the WHO.

Kluge said the European region now sees about 100 new mpox cases every month.

"While anyone can catch mpox, not everyone is at equal risk," said Kluge.

"People who closely interact with someone who is infectious, including through sexual contact, are at greater risk for infection, particularly sexual partners, but also, potentially, household members and health workers."