Sweden has this week recorded the first case of a more dangerous strain of monkeypox in Europe. The infected man had travelled back from an area of Africa where there is currently a major outbreak of the virus.
Monkeypox—recently rebranded as “Mpox” by the World Health Organisation (WHO) to try to avoid “racist and stigmatising language”—has been declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC). The virus has taken more than 500 lives in the Democratic Republic of the Congo alone, and the WHO has insisted that this “is an emergency, not only for Africa, but for the entire globe.” Outside Africa, most cases have occurred in homosexual and bisexual men
Despite growing concerns, it appears little is being done to limit the spread of monkeypox. The Europe branch of the WHO, based in Copenhagen, has even urged against “stigmatising” travellers from Africa—as well as against stigmatising the affected countries and regions themselves—and has insisted that
Travel restrictions and border closures do not work and should be avoided.
Rather than attempt to prevent the virus from reaching Europe in the first place, Swedish virology professor Matti Sällberg said after the first case was recorded in his country that “the important thing now is to make sure that there is no domestic spread of it.”
“The death rate is low,” Sällberg added, “but it is serious enough that you have to be vigilant.”
Danish biotech company Bavarian Nordic said this week that it can provide 10 million doses of its monkeypox vaccine to African countries by the end of 2025—which is noble but, again, not preventative of the initial spread.
European officials appear, instead, to be pinning their hopes on the health systems of impacted African countries containing the spread of the virus.
China, on the other hand, has announced that it will be monitoring people and goods travelling into the country from African nations where there is an outbreak of monkeypox over the next six months.
Most people who become infected with the virus experience mild-to-moderate symptoms followed by a full recovery. Monkeypox poses more of a risk to immunocompromised individuals.
