The resigning Minister Delegate for Health Frédéric Valletoux said he expected “sporadic cases” of the new variant of the mpox virus in France “soon”.
“There is a strong chance that sporadic cases” of the new variant of mpox “will appear, and probably soon” in France, estimates the resigning Minister Delegate for Health Frédéric Valletoux, in an interview with The Sunday Tribune.
Faced with the rapid spread of this new, more lethal strain of the virus, known as clade 1b, the World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday triggered its highest level of alert and its European branch warned that Europe should experience more imported cases in the “coming days”.
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A first case was discovered on Thursday in Sweden in a person who had travelled to Africa, where the epidemic, which started in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), is spreading.
“State of maximum vigilance” in France
In France, the resigning Prime Minister Gabriel Attal announced on Friday that the health system was being placed on “maximum alert”, while no cases of MPOX clade 1b – a disease formerly known as monkeypox – have yet been reported.
“Around 150,000 people” have been vaccinated in France over the last three years, following the clade 2 epidemic wave in 2002, but “it is too early to have any certainty about the level of effectiveness of the vaccines” on the new variant, explained Frédéric Valletoux.
“Today, we have robust stocks that allow for an appropriate response. We have more than in 2022 and we can order quickly if necessary,” he assured.
A mode of contamination different from Covid
“We will continue vaccination” which will however remain limited to the “most exposed public”, according to the minister.
Authorities will “notify all persons who have travelled to the affected areas, upon departure and arrival of each flight,” he also indicated.
Awareness-raising among “those most exposed to this risk through associations and appropriate networks” is planned, but this is “a type of epidemic whose mode of spread and contamination has nothing to do with Covid. We must therefore reassure the population from this point of view”, believes Frédéric Valletoux.
The virus is spread through sexual intercourse or closer contact between people than Covid-19, scientists say.
Jeanne Bulant with AFP Journalist BFMTV