Gabon recently confirmed its first case of Mpox, a viral disease formerly known as monkeypox, marking the country’s entry into the list of nations affected by this worrying resurgence of the virus in Central Africa.
This first case was detected in a traveler returning from Uganda, a country already hard hit by this disease since the appearance of a variant of the virus. The announcement was made by the Gabonese Ministry of Health in a press release released on Thursday and received by AFP on Friday.
“Today, August 22, 2024, the government declares the first case of Mpox in Gabon,” the statement said.
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The infected man, aged 30, had been in Uganda in the two weeks prior to his return. Currently in isolation and under medical supervision, “the patient is in good general condition”reassure the authorities.
Maximum vigilance throughout the region
The ministry has nevertheless implemented a series of measures aimed at strengthening preparation and prevention against the importation of Mpox. These include the maximum alert of epidemiological surveillance systems and the acquisition of the necessary capacities to diagnose the disease at the national level.
Mpox is a zoonotic disease, spreading from animals to humans, but can also be transmitted from human to human through close contact. Its symptoms include fever, muscle pain and skin lesions, making it particularly feared in regions of Central Africa, as explained in a recent report by the World Health Organization (WHO).
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The resurgence of Mpox in Africa has led the WHO to declare a “public health emergency of international concern” in mid-August, the organization’s highest alert level. The virus, particularly active in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), also affects Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda, the country from which the patient detected in Gabon comes.
“We know that clade 1 is more dangerous than clade 2,” said Tarik Jasarevic, a WHO spokesman in Geneva, referring to the sub-variants of the virus circulating around the world.
Vaccines ready for rapid response
On the vaccine front, there is a glimmer of hope. Bavarian Nordic, the Danish lab that produces the Mpox vaccine, said it is “better prepared” to meet global demand than during the previous outbreak in 2022.
“Not only have we built up inventory to meet anticipated orders, but we have also built up inventory to respond in the event of an outbreak,” said company CEO Paul Chaplin.
The lab says it is ready to produce up to 10 million doses by 2025, well beyond the 7 million doses manufactured during the global outbreak in 2022.
“We are expecting cases of Mpox in France” (Frédéric Valletoux, resigning Minister Delegate for Health and Prevention)
Currently, around 500,000 doses are already in stock, but the slow pace of decisions regarding orders, particularly in Europe, could delay the distribution of vaccines in the most affected regions, such as the DRC.
Vigilance maintained in France
According to Hans Kluge, WHO Europe director, Mpox, although worrying, does not present the same danger as Covid-19.
“Mpox is not the new Covid,” he said, stressing that the world “already knows a lot” about the disease, thanks in particular to lessons learned from previous epidemics.
However, he stressed the importance of continued monitoring and prevention in risk areas, such as Central Africa.
In France, authorities are also preparing for a possible resurgence, with the establishment of 232 vaccination sites. The Pasteur Institute had already announced that it was ready to “test and vaccinate patients at the request of the French authorities”Similar measures have been taken in other European countries, particularly in risk areas or regions where the virus has already emerged, such as Sweden.
(With AFP)
