The EU will analyse the expansion of mpox on Monday and the autonomous communities will meet on Tuesday

He European Union Health Security Committee meets this Monday to analyze the spread of this disease, And a day later, on Tuesday, the Spanish Ministry of Health has called for the autonomous communities for analyze what measures to take behind him decree of the health emergency of international interest announced this past Wednesday by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Tomorrow is a technical meeting in which the EU will analyze new measures in response to the current mpox outbreak (the disease formerly known as monkeypox) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in an attempt to stop its spread.

This committee coordinates the EU’s rapid response to serious cross-border threats to health and is key to exchanging information on the specific measures adopted by each country. This committee coordinates the EU’s rapid response to serious cross-border threats to health and is key to exchanging information on the specific measures adopted by each country. Spain will be represented by the Director General of Public Health and Health Equity of the Ministry of Health, Peter Gullon.

He European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) The agency said in an updated risk assessment on Friday that it was “very likely” that there would be more imported cases of MPOX, but ruled out “continued contagion” if action was taken quickly.

The ECDC called for ensuring effective surveillance, laboratory testing, epidemiological investigation and contact tracing capabilities, initiatives similar to those called for by the WHO.

The new mpox variant can easily spread through close contact between two individualswithout sexual contact being necessary, and is considered more dangerous than the one in 2022, which at the time gave rise to another similar alert, lifted last May after its spread was contained and the situation was considered to be under control.

The Danish pharmaceutical company Bavarian Nordic announced on Friday that it has asked the European Medicines Agency (EMA) to extend approval for use in adolescents of its MPOX vaccine, the only one approved by the competent authorities in Europe and the United States.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo, where the outbreak has started, has recorded 15,664 potential cases and 548 deaths since the start of the year – with children under 15 accounting for 56% and 79% of all cases and deaths, respectively. Cases have also been reported in 13 other African countries.

Since the beginning of the outbreak in 2022, there have been reports 8,104 cases in Spainthe vast majority, 7,521, occurred that same year, according to data from the Ministry of Health.

The Spanish Ministry of Health will meet with the autonomous communities on Tuesday

The Spanish Ministry of Health is considering introducing some changes to the mpox vaccination strategy, currently indicated for People who have risky sexual relations, health personnel in specialized clinics and laboratory workersand will raise Measures for those traveling to countries where the outbreak is active.

This was stated by the Minister of Health, Mónica García, in a thread published on her account on the social network X, in which she explained that after the meeting on Monday in the EU, the following day they will analyse the existing measures with the autonomous communities and evaluate the need to take new ones.

In this regard, and after emphasizing that in Spain and the rest of Europe the risk is low, the Minister of Health insists that “the greatest risk is found in people who travel to countries with significant outbreaks of mpox in Africa”, so they will propose “new actions” regarding them.

He also recalled that “the good performance” against mpox in Spain between 2022 and 2024 was “thanks to the joint work with the autonomous communities and, above all, with the groups that made it possible to address this without stigma and effectively.”