(Reuters) – The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) on Friday raised its risk level for mpox, and asked countries to maintain high levels of awareness among travellers visiting from affected areas.
The agency raised its risk level assessment to “moderate” from “low” for the broader population and travellers to affected areas. “Due to the close links between Europe and Africa, we must be prepared for more imported clade I cases,” said the agency’s director, Pamela Rendi Wagner.
The current outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo began with the spread of an endemic strain, known as clade I. But a new variant, clade Ib, appears to spread more easily through routine close contact, including sexual contact.
Usually mild, the infection can be fatal in rare cases.
Mpox causes flu-like symptoms and pus-filled lesions on the body.
(Reporting by Bhanvi Satija in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)
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