Mutant mpox declared global health emergency by WHO after rapid spread to 13 countries – and experts fear Europe is next

MUTANT mpox has been declared a global health emergency by the World Health Organisation after its rapid spread to 13 countries.

The highly contagious disease has killed at least 450 people and infected 13,700 during an initial outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

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It has now spread to 12 other countries in Africa, and scientists are concerned about how fast a new variant of the disease is spreading and its high fatality rate.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the potential for further spread within Africa and beyond “is very worrying”.

“A co-ordinated international response is essential to stop this outbreak and save lives,” he said.

The DRC has been battling with its variant, called “clade 1”, for decades.

This version is more deadly, with a fatality rate of around five per cent in adults and 10 per cent in children, compared to three per cent for its predecessor.

Doctor Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, from the WHO, warned: “In the past month, about 90 cases of clade 1b have been reported in four countries neighbouring the DRC that have not reported mpox before: Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda.

“But we are not dealing with one outbreak of one clade – we are dealing with several outbreaks of different clades in different countries with different modes of transmission and different levels of risk.”

WHO’S labelling of a “public health emergency of international concern” is meant to encourage member countries to begin preparing for the virus.

This could entail the sharing of vaccines and treatments with poorer nations.

On Tuesday, scientists from the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention declared a public health emergency.

The head of the organisation, Jean Kaseya, warned that this current outbreak could spiral out of control if immediate steps were not taken to contain it.

“We must be proactive and aggressive in our efforts to contain and eliminate this threat,” he said.

Health chiefs outside Africa are keeping track of the situation to assess the risk of the outbreak spreading further.

Prof Marion Koopmans, from the Pandemic and Disaster Management Centre, said the risk of the virus coming to Europe is “small although it is possible”.

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Experts have previously told the Sun the disease could easily spread via international travel.

Mpox is a viral infection that causes flu-like symptoms and pus-filled lesions.

Until a few years ago most cases of it were reported in central and west Africa.

But in 2022, the WHO declared a public health emergency when a strain of mpox called clade 2 triggered the global outbreak that reached over 100 countries – including the UK.

That outbreak was brought under control by vaccinating vulnerable groups.

In April, alarm bells were raised when scientists found a new easier-to-catch strain of mpox called clade 1b which had “pandemic potential” in Kamituga, a small mining town in the DRC.

The new bug, dubbed “clade 1b”, is behind a recent surge in cases in the east of the country.

Like clade 2, most new infections in the DRC appear to have been sexually transmitted.

But there have also been cases of the new bug spreading through touch alone in schools and workplaces.

Expert Josie Golding of global charitable foundation Wellcome said: “Epidemics pose a threat to health and health equity globally.

“Mpox has affected West and Central African communities for decades, only gaining global attention during the 2022 outbreak in Europe and North America.

“The current surge of cases in Africa demonstrates the ongoing and growing threat of Mpox.”

She continued: “We should not wait for diseases to escalate and cross borders before acting.

“Effective outbreak control requires sustained, coordinated efforts worldwide – from local and national governments, and public and private industry to funders, regulators and NGOs.”

BUGS DON’T RECOGNISE BORDERS

Vaccines and treatments were previously used to combat the global outbreak but they are not available in many countries, including Congo.

Earlier this month, authorities said it had reached the major city of Goma, which has an international airport that operates frequent direct flights to and from Europe. 

“Pathogens don’t recognise borders,” Ben Oppenheim, a global health experts and senior director of US company Ginkgo Biosecurity, previously told the Sun.

“Goma is an important regional transit point, which heightens the risk of the virus spreading regionally and potentially globally – including to Europe and the UK,” he said.

Trudie Lang, professor of global health research at Oxford University, added: “It is quite possible people with the infection and who are infectious could get on a flight and transmit this elsewhere.”

Symptoms of mpox could include a fever, respiratory issues, muscle aches and swollen lymph nodes.

Rashes on the hands, feet, chest, mouth or genitals can also appear.

I mistook monkeypox for Covid – I’ve never been in so much pain

A MAN who caught mpox in 2022 first believed he had Covid before experiencing agonising symptoms that made him fear for his life.

Harun Tulunay, a 35-year-old charity worker, experienced extreme symptoms which left him hospitalised for almost two weeks. 

Harun, who lives in London, first started to display flu-like symptoms back in early June 2022, such as high fever, chills and muscle aches.

After having recently caught Covid he was “convinced” he had had the virus again, he told The Sun. “But every test I did came back negative.”

A few days later, the charity worker developed a red and white rash on his body that resembled an allergic reaction, which he said was “nothing like the monkeypox pictures you see online”.

It wasn’t until a few days later that he also noticed a painless spot on his nose which he assumed was a mosquito-like bite or pimple. 

Harun works in sexual health so is well versed in monkeypox and its symptoms, but he had never seen his rash or spot associated with the disease and so didn’t think he could have it.

A few days later, Harun’s health took a turn for the worse as his fever reached 40C. “No amount of painkillers would ease the pain,” he said.

It was at this point that Harun developed swollen tonsils and a very sore throat.  

“I couldn’t breathe, swallow or speak,” he said. 

“I vividly remember calling up the hospital and crying in pain.”

Harun was finally referred to the hospital where he was put into isolation.

His test confirmed he had monkeypox, and only then did lesions often associated with monkeypox begin to appear on his hands, legs, and feet.

“My throat was covered,” he said, explaining that the lesion on his nose was bigger and had become infected.

“I was scared I would die alone in my hospital room,” he said. “I’d never been in so much pain in my life.”

“I remember looking at a water bottle and crying because I couldn’t drink it,” he added. 

Harun has now made a full recovery.

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