France becomes the fourth European country to identify a case of clade 1b mpox on its territory. This is currently raging in Central Africa and could be responsible for more severe symptoms than clade 2, which caused the 2022 epidemic. Health authorities are reminding the target audiences of the importance of vaccination.
Following the identification of a first case of clade 1b mpox (formerly called “monkey pox”) in metropolitan France, confirmed on Monday 6 January, health authorities are reminding the target audiences of the importance of vaccination.
The patient, who lives in Brittany, has not travelled to Central Africa where different clades are actively circulating, including clade 1b. This person, treated at the Rennes University Hospital (Ille-et-Vilaine), was however in contact with two individuals returning from Central Africa.
France is the fourth European country after the United Kingdom, Germany and Sweden to have recorded a contamination of clade 1b mpox since the summer of 2024. Clade 2b has continued to circulate quietly since the 2022 epidemic with 215 cases reported to Public Health France in 2024.
Vaccination for whom ?
The detection of clade 1b in the territory does not change the measures put in place to combat the spread of the virus. Thus, in a press release dated January 7, the Ministry of Health and Public Health France reiterated the importance of vaccination for target audiences.
“In accordance with the opinion of the High Authority for Health (HAS) of August 29, 2024, vaccination is recommended as a preventive measure in pre-exposure for people at high risk of exposure, and as a reactive measure for people at risk of contact around a case of mpox”.
The following are concerned:
200% Deposit Bonus up to €3,000 180% First Deposit Bonus up to $20,000men who have sex with men reporting multiple partners; trans people with multiple partners; sex workers and persons in prostitution; professionals in places of sexual consumption; partners or persons sharing the same living space as those at high risk of exposure mentioned above.
“In accordance with the opinion of the High Council for Public Health (HCSP) of September 2, 2024, people with close ties to Central African countries where the MPOX virus is actively circulating, including people who regularly visit their family or humanitarian workers, can also be vaccinated against MPOX before their trip.”
It is also recommended that people returning to or heading to Central Africa apply barrier gestures: wash their hands frequently and avoid contact with infected people or people with rashes suggestive of MPOX, with objects that these people may have contaminated as well as with animals, particularly rodents.
What are the symptoms ?
The transmission of mpox, caused by the Monkeypox virus, close to smallpox, is transmitted by prolonged contact with an infected person (skin lesions, body fluids, contaminated objects). To a lesser extent, the virus can be transmitted by droplets (spitting, sneezing).
After an incubation period of 5 to 21 days, fever, sore throat, and swollen lymph nodes precede the rash – however, these symptoms can occur at the same time. “The epidemic that started in May 2022 in Europe, linked to clade 2b – and which then spread to the rest of the world – shows more localized skin rashes, often on the genital or perianal areas”, specifies the Pasteur Institute.
The disease usually heals spontaneously but complications can occur: skin superinfections, septicemia, encephalitis, or corneal damage. The disease lasts 2 to 4 weeks and the patient is contagious from the onset of the first symptoms.
An international public health emergency
In August 2024, the WHO declared a second public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) in the face of the resurgence of MPOX in the Democratic Republic of Congo and several neighboring countries and the appearance of the new clade, clade 1b – the subtype from which the French patient suffers – possibly more transmissible and deadly than clade 2.
This disease is subject to increased surveillance in France and Europe. The Regional Health Agencies (ARS) are responsible for implementing the necessary measures to limit the risk of spread: surveillance (mandatory reporting of cases and virological analyses by the national reference center for orthopoxviruses), prevention, diagnosis, management of cases and contacts, as well as free vaccination of target groups and contacts.
The risk of infection by Monkeypox clade I for the general population in France and Europe is considered low by the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).