Wrapup 4: EU public health body lifts mpox risk alert level

SIGA Technologies

16/08/2024 14:15

(Adds details on share price moves in paragraph 15)
    By Bhanvi Satija and Jennifer Rigby
       Aug 16 (Reuters) - The European Centre for Disease
Prevention and Control (ECDC) on Friday raised its risk level
for mpox, a day after global health officials confirmed the
first infection with a new strain of the virus outside Africa,
in Sweden. 
    The EU public health body's head said there will be more
imported cases of the new mpox strain in Europe in the coming
weeks, though the risk of sustained transmission remains low. 
    The World Health Organization on Wednesday declared mpox a
global public health emergency, its highest form of alert,
following an outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo that
had spread to neighbouring countries.
    The global health body is due to host an emergency meeting
on Friday to discuss ways to ensure fair global access to tests,
treatments and vaccines for the virus, a leading official said.
    Mpox, a viral infection that causes pus-filled lesions and
flu-like symptoms, is usually mild but can kill. Two strains are
now spreading in Congo - the endemic form of the virus, clade I,
and a new offshoot called clade Ib.
    The ECDC on Friday raised its risk level assessment for mpox
to "moderate" from "low" for sporadic cases appearing in the EU,
and asked countries to maintain high levels of awareness among
travellers visiting from affected areas. The agency said the
overall risk to the population had gone up from "very low" to
"low". 
    "Due to the close links between Europe and Africa, we must
be prepared for more imported clade I cases," its director
Pamela Rendi Wagner said.
    Pakistan also confirmed on Friday a case of the mpox virus
in a patient who had returned from a Gulf country, though it was
not clear whether it was of the new variant or of the clade that
has been spreading globally since 2022.
    Mpox transmits through close physical contact, including
sexual contact, but unlike previous global pandemics such as
COVID-19 there is no evidence it spreads easily through the air.
    WHO official Margaret Harris said on a media call on Friday
that she expects more cases outside Africa to emerge soon, also
as a result of heightened monitoring.
    However, the WHO has advised against any travel restrictions
to stop the spread of the virus. China said earlier on Friday it
plans to monitor people and goods entering the country for mpox
for the next six months.
    
    DIAGNOSTICS
    Far more diagnostic kits, treatments and vaccines need to be
shipped to Africa to respond adequately to the outbreak of the
new strain of the mpox virus there, an official of the Red Cross
and Red Crescent humanitarian network said on Friday. 
    The head of global vaccine group Gavi told Reuters it has up
to $500 million to spend on getting shots to countries affected
by the escalating outbreak in Africa.
    Shares in companies making and developing products against
mpox surged on Friday. Shares of vaccine makers Bavarian Nordic
 BAVA.CO  and Emergent BioSolutions  EBS.N  jumped 20% each,
while those of Siga Technologies  SIGA.O , which makes an
antiviral mpox drug, rose 7%. 
    Denmark's Bavarian Nordic said it had submitted data to the
EU's drug regulator for approval to extend the use of its mpox
and smallpox vaccine to adolescents aged 12 to 17 years.
    Shares in New Jersey-based Tonix Pharmaceuticals  TNXP.O 
also leapt after the company said it will advance development of
its mpox vaccine candidate.
    "We are motivated to advance development for our mpox
vaccine with urgency given the global public health emergency,"
its CEO Seth Lederman said.

    <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
EXPLAINER-Why is mpox an emergency again, and how worried should
I be?     urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N3K308S
EXCLUSIVE-Mpox in Africa prompts $500 million funding from Gavi
for vaccines     urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N3K20Z1
FACTBOX-Countries with confirmed cases of new mpox variant   
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N3K30VG
Newscasts - Mpox emergency: how worried should you be?   
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nRTV7DZppQ
    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>
 (Reporting by Jennifer Rigby in London, Bhanvi Satija, Puyaan
Singh, Mariam Sunny and Manas Mishra in Bengaluru, Ludwig Burger
in Frankfurt, Miranda Murray in Berlin, Mushtaq Ali in Peshawar,
Charlotte Greenfield in Islamabad, Stine Jacobsen in Copenhagen,
Lucy Raitano in London; Writing by Jan Harvey; Editing by
Catherine Evans and Mark Potter)
 ((Bhanvi.Satija@thomsonreuters.com; Outside U.S. +91
9873062788))