The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) warned on Friday that the number of monkeypox cases is expected to rise in the coming months, and all EU member states should prepare for the spread of the disease.
The Stockholm-based agency wrote in its report that the overall risk to the population in the European Union is currently low, but it recommended that public health authorities in member states continue planning that allows for a high level of preparedness and launch awareness campaigns to prevent the spread of the disease in order to quickly detect and respond to it.
Ensuring capacities for effective surveillance, laboratory testing, epidemiological investigation and personal contact tracing will be vital to detect infections and activate responses in the EU.
– It can be read in the risk assessment.
The number of people infected with the infection imported from the African continent will increase, therefore, in light of the close relationship between the European Union and Africa, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control recommends that Member States issue travel warnings for those visiting or returning from affected areas. infection. It is also recommended that travelers to the affected areas consult their healthcare provider regarding eligibility for vaccination against the disease.
The World Health Organization declared a global public health emergency on Wednesday due to the spread of the new monkeypox virus, caused by the Mpox-Clade I virus strain.
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, since January 2023, 27,000 cases and more than 1,100 deaths have been reported due to an epidemic of monkeypox. The new virus variant has already appeared in Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Kenya, and on Thursday the first confirmed case of the Mpox-Clade I virus variant outside Africa was reported in Sweden, and since then the disease has also appeared in Pakistan.
