EU rules out mpox border controls and common vaccination plan

Hind Al Soulia - Riyadh - BRUSSELS — There is no need to impose border controls to stave off the risk of mpox, or to initiate bloc-wide inoculation against the virus, the Health Security Committee of the European Commission concluded on Monday following a meeting with the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), the European Medicine Agency (EMA).

A European Commission spokesperson told Euronews that the Health Security Committee (HSC) agreed that for now, there is no need to update the Opinion on Mpox vaccination from 2022, “nor should this be considered a public health emergency in Europe as things stand.”

“The HSC members agreed on the importance of a closely coordinated approach and the need to continue monitoring the situation very closely,” the spokesperson added after the meeting, which was conducted online and also included participants from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and African Centre for Disease Control.

For the time being, vaccination recommendations are maintained for certain groups, but extending this to the general population was ruled out for now.

The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the evolving situation of mpox in the European Union and the possible need for further joint measures, such as vaccination recommendations for the general population or border surveillance of travelers from higher-risk areas, which were ruled out after the meeting.

The meeting came after mpox was declared a global health emergency last week by the WHO as an outbreak spreads in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and neighboring African countries.

What is mpox, how does it spread and why has it been declared a global health emergency?

Since the first human case was reported in 1970, the virus is now endemic in countries in central and western Africa. This is the second time a global health emergency has been declared in relation to the virus, the first was in 2022 after a global outbreak in countries that had not previously reported cases, such as Europe.

This time, the outbreak is caused by the subtype of the virus known as ‘clade I’, which is considered to cause more severe illness.

Following the latest reports, some countries are enhancing surveillance and starting public information campaigns.

Monica García, Spanish Health Minister, said in a post on X following the meeting that, while not implementing any measures at borders, the Spanish government would work with airport authorities and airlines to increase the information available for people traveling to Spain.

The ECDC last week warned that it is "highly likely" Europe will see more imported cases of mpox due to the virus’ spread in multiple African countries. However, it assessed the impact to be low in Europe and recommended "high levels of preparedness planning and awareness-raising activities" to handle cases that reach the region.

This includes effective surveillance, testing, and contact tracing to detect cases of mpox in Europe.

The health agency warns that mpox is transmitted to people by close contact with infected animals or people, or by touching virus-contaminated materials. It enters the body through (often invisible) injuries or wounds in the skin, or the mucous membranes. It can be passed from one person to another during sexual contact and the risk of infection increases after sexual exposure. — Euronews