2024-08-22 23:41:35
A new Mpox virus is spreading in Central Africa. The first case of the disease has also been discovered in Europe. Is a new pandemic looming?
Mpox, formerly known as “monkeypox”, was discovered in 1958 and has since become a global health problem. A new variant of the virus is currently spreading rapidly in Central Africa. The infectious disease has also arrived in Europe. The World Health Organization (WHO) has therefore issued a warning.
Prof. Jürgen May from the Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine explains in an interview with t-online what the “national emergency” means, how likely further infections are in Europe and how people become infected.
t-online: The first confirmed case of the new Mpox variant in Europe was recently reported from Sweden. Will we see cases here too?
Prof. Jürgen May: That is difficult to say, as many questions about the virus type remain unanswered – for example, whether there really is a greater virulence and thus greater transmissibility. This is of course important to know in order to estimate whether the new virus variant can spread in Europe.
How well prepared are we for a possible infection?
Here, Mpox cases encounter a very good monitoring, reporting and health care system. In this respect, patients can be quickly isolated and contact persons can be quarantined. We are on the relatively safe side.
Prof. Dr. Jürgen May is an epidemiologist and tropical medicine specialist. Since 2021, he has also been Chairman of the Board of the Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine (BNITM) in Hamburg, where infectious diseases are researched.
Nevertheless, the earlier Mpox variant has already spread in Europe in 2022/23, and 3,800 cases have also been reported in Germany.
Correct. In 2022, we saw that cases can spread very quickly in certain population groups. The outbreak was brought under control again. And that would probably be the case this time too. We are now better warned. Back then, the cases came as a surprise.
Don’t we need additional protective measures?
No major measures are required at the moment. Border closures, travel restrictions – these are not necessary at this stage. In suspected cases, the health department takes immediate action, tracks the chains of infection, imposes quarantines and informs possible contact persons.
What distinguishes the Mpox virus from other pathogens such as SARS-CoV-2 or Ebola?
They all cause very different infectious diseases, and the probability of transmission from person to person varies greatly. In the case of Ebola, this is relatively high – especially when there is a high viral load. There was the problem that people became infected at funerals because they had touched the deceased. We have been well aware of the transmission routes of SARS-CoV-2 since the corona pandemic: the viruses enter the body primarily via droplet infections. A cough is enough to cause infection. Mpox, however, is transmitted through very close skin contact – especially during sexual contact. It can penetrate through skin changes, i.e. blisters, but also through injuries and mucous membranes.
In the Mpox event that began in 2022, infections have occurred overwhelmingly in men who themselves reported sexual contact with several other men. But the risk is not limited to people who are sexually active or to men who have sex with men. Any person who has close physical contact with an infectious person can become infected with Mpox.
Becoming infected with Corona is therefore much easier and faster.
Yes, Corona is quite insidious: you can also become infected from asymptomatic patients. This makes containment particularly difficult – and that is not the case with Mpox.
Does that mean that Mpox does not have a very high pandemic potential?
The greatest potential is certainly in infections that are transmitted via droplets. With Mpox, this is rather unlikely because very close contact is required. However, for such an assessment, it is important to collect more data. But that was already very difficult with Corona and took a long time, even though we had many infected people directly on site and not in Central Africa.
New data suggests that the new Mpox variant could be more contagious and dangerous. Can we also expect a higher mortality rate?
So far, these are observations that have only come from a single outbreak. This can be misleading. The death rate depends not only on the virus itself, but also on where the disease occurs, under what hygienic conditions and in which health system, for example. An infection in Africa is more likely to lead to death, but in Europe this is much less likely.