The position of the Ministry of Health on the situation in the occurrence of mpox disease in Africa – Ministry of Health

Created: 8/15/2024 Last updated: 8/18/2024

The Ministry of Health, together with the National Institute of Health, monitors the situation in the incidence of mpox (monkey pox) in Africa, as well as the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control, which currently assesses the overall risk of this infection to the EU/EEA population as low. The mpox surveillance system has been set up in the Czech Republic since 2022, when the first unusual occurrence of this disease was recorded. In this context, the “Recommended procedure for the occurrence of cases of monkeypox” was developed, which was prepared by the Ministry of Health in cooperation with the SZÚ and experts of the relevant specialties (Recommended procedure in the event of monkeypox cases – SZÚ | Official website of the State Health Institute in Prague (szu.cz)).

If you are planning to travel to areas where mpox is currently reported (Outbreak Report, 30 July 2024: Mpox Situation in Africa – Africa CDC), we recommend consulting the suitability of vaccination and other preventive measures against mpox in vaccination and travel medicine centers. Vaccination against mpox is carried out in selected places, the list of which can be found here: List of health service providers who carry out vaccination against monkeypox – Ministry of Health (gov.cz). Further recommendations will be based on the upcoming rapid risk assessment by the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control and recommendations from the World Health Organization, which we expect, according to the WHO Director General’s message, in the coming days.

Additional information:

A Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) is declared by the WHO in cases where it is an emergency that is determined to pose a risk to the public health of other states due to the international spread of disease and potentially requires a coordinated international response. In the case of MPOX, an emergency was declared in 2022, when the mpox disease spread to countries outside the African region (ended in 2023).

The development of the number of cases and other epidemiological indicators are available on the World Health Organization website: 2022-24 Mpox (Monkeypox) Outbreak: Global Trends (shinyapps.io)

• According to the Africa CDC Epidemic Intelligence Report released on August 9, 2024 ( Africa-CDC-Epidemic-Intelligence-Report-09Aug24.pdf ), a total of 17,541 mpox cases were reported in Africa in 2024, including 2,822 confirmed cases and 517 deaths ( of the 13 member states of the African Union). These member states are Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Ghana, Liberia, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa and Uganda.
• According to WHO data, 99,176 confirmed cases of smallpox, including 208 deaths, were reported from 116 countries worldwide from 2022 to the end of July 2024.
• In EU/EEA countries, 22,658 confirmed mpox cases were reported from 29 countries as of 6 July. EU/EEA has not reported any cases caused by MPXV Clade I.
• A total of 12 cases of mpox were reported in the Czech Republic this year.

According to WHO data, 96.4% (87,189/90,410) of cases with available data are men, of which the majority are MSM. Like the ECDC and the WHO, the risk for this group is rated as medium, i.e. higher than for the general population, which is rated as low for EU citizens.

The most common clinical manifestations – mpox begin with fever, chills, headache, muscle, back pain and exhaustion, and there is swelling of the lymph nodes (lymphadenopathy). Within 1 to 3 days (sometimes longer) after the onset of fever, the patient develops a typical rash (hives), which often starts on the face and then spreads to other parts of the body. The rash goes through different stages of development and can resemble chicken pox or syphilis. The illness usually lasts 2-4 weeks, when most people recover. Treatment is mainly symptomatic and supportive, includes administration of antipyretics, possibly analgesics, antihistamines and local treatment of efflorescence. Antibiotics may be needed in case of bacterial superinfection. Antivirals may be considered in patients with a severe course or severe immunodeficiency.