Mpox global emergency call – 5 questions to Umeå virologist

Brick-shaped mature mpox virions. 

ImageWikimedia

Unfortunately, there is no or very little research going on about mpox in Umeå and in the rest of Sweden

The current outbreak of mpox is caused by a variant of mpox that is significantly more dangerous than the variant that caused the previous outbreak in Africa about two years ago.

Is mpox very contagious?

“The current outbreak is caused by clade 1 mpox. This variant appears to be more contagious than the variant (clade II) that caused the outbreak two years ago, which was also declared to be a public health emergency of international concern. But, it seems to transmit – at least so far – in a very different way than sars-cov-2 – the cause of COVID-19 – and is not as contagious, yet. “ 

How does the virus spread?

“By contact such as intimate contact, but also hugs when skin touch skin is sufficient. The virus can also transmit from a person via a surface to another person, but this is probably less common. There are not – yet – any reports that this virus can transmit by air or droplets, such as sars-cov-2, but it should be noted that smallpox virus, which belongs to the same family as mpox, transmit very efficiently by air. This is one reason to why we really want to limit and stop this outbreak. We do not want any mpox virus to be airborne.”

Is the disease dangerous?

“Clade 1 mpox seems to be more dangerous than clade II mpox. The infection can be systemic and target many organs. Symptoms includes flu-like illness (fever, headache, tiredness), swollen adenoids and the blisters can be very painful. The illness last for some two to four weeks, which is a bit longer than most other acute virus-caused diseases."

Is there a cure or vaccine?

“Here we are in a better position as compared to COVID-19. There is an antiviral drug developed against smallpox by American researchers and this drug can be used also against mpox infection and disease. This is exactly the type of preparedness that we should have against other viruses with pandemic potential, but such tools are also urgently needed for treatment of diseases caused by seasonal viruses.”

“There is also a vaccine developed against smallpox, which protect against clade II mpox disease. Studies are ongoing to investigate if the vaccine also protect against clade I mpox disease.”

Should we be afraid that mpox reaches Sweden?

“Given the magnitude of the current outbreak I would be surprised if there would be no import cases in Sweden, but even if we do and given the features of the now circulating variant, it is unlikely that there will be a big outbreak in Sweden. This virus is currently less contagious than sars-cov-2 and health care is a bit better prepared to deal with outbreaks caused by emerging pathogens.”

“Unfortunately, there is no or very little research going on about mpox in Umeå and in the rest of Sweden, similarly to the situation before the COVID-19 pandemic, when there was no or very little research on coronavirus. The research area of infectious diseases needs to be strengthened. I am happy that we have UCMR here in Umeå.”

Niklas Arnberg, professor at the Department of Clinical microbiology at Umeå university.

ImageMattias Pettersson