Geneva, Switzerland.- The European Union’s health agency on Friday urged member states to prepare for more cases of a deadly strain of monkeypox (mpox), a day after Sweden announced its first case outside Africa.
In a risk assessment, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said the overall risk to the population in the EU and the European Economic Area (EEA) remained “low”.
However, it “recommends that public health authorities in the EU/EEA maintain high levels of planning and information activities that facilitate rapid detection and response.”
The health authority said it was “very likely” that more cases would be imported into Europe.
The World Health Organization (WHO) this week declared the rapid spread of a new and more dangerous strain of mpox, dubbed Clade 1b, a public health emergency of international concern, the highest alert level the UN agency can issue.
The virus has killed 548 people in the Democratic Republic of Congo so far this year.
Sweden and Pakistan reported their first cases of the virus outside Africa this week, and the WHO has warned that more cases of the new strain are likely to be imported into Europe.
In an updated risk assessment, the ECDC stated that “the overall risk to the general population in the EU/EEA is currently assessed as low, based on a low likelihood and impact.”
But he added that the likelihood of infection for people from Europe “who travel to affected areas and have close contact with affected communities is high.”
“There is also a moderate risk for close contacts of possible or confirmed imported cases” in Europe.
The infectious disease is caused by a virus transmitted to humans by animals, but can also spread from person to person through close physical contact.
It causes fever, muscle aches and large boil-like skin lesions.
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