2022–2023 mpox outbreak in Switzerland

2022–2023 mpox outbreak in Switzerland
2022–2023 mpox outbreak in Switzerland
Disease	Mpox
Virus strain	Monkeypox virus (West African clade)
Location	Switzerland
Index case	Bern, Switzerland
Arrival date	21 May 2022 (2 years, 1 month, 3 weeks and 4 days ago)
Date	As of 22 August 2022
Confirmed cases	416
Suspected cases‡	0
Deaths	0
	‡Suspected cases have not been confirmed by laboratory tests as being due to this strain, although some other strains may have been ruled out.

The 2022–2023 mpox outbreak in Switzerland is a part of the outbreak of human mpox caused by the West African clade of the monkeypox virus. The outbreak started in Switzerland on 19 May 2022,^[1] with the country since then becoming one of the most affected in Europe.

Background

An ongoing outbreak of mpox was confirmed on 6 May 2022, beginning with a British resident who, after travelling to Nigeria (where the disease is endemic), presented symptoms consistent with mpox on 29 April 2022. The resident returned to the United Kingdom on 4 May, creating the country's index case of the outbreak.^[2] The origin of several of the cases of mpox in the United Kingdom is unknown. Some monitors saw community transmission taking place in the London area as of mid-May,^[3] but it has been suggested that cases were already spreading in Europe in the previous months.^[4]

Transmission

A large portion of those infected were believed to have not recently traveled to areas of Africa where mpox is normally found, such as Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo as well as central and western Africa. It is believed to be transmitted by close contact with sick people, with extra caution for those individuals with lesions on their skin or genitals, along with their bedding and clothing. The CDC has also stated that individuals should avoid contact and consumption of dead animals such as rats, squirrels, monkeys and apes along with wild game or lotions derived from animals in Africa.^[5]

In addition to more common symptoms, such as fever, headache, swollen lymph nodes, and rashes or lesions, some patients have also experienced proctitis, an inflammation of the rectum lining. CDC has also warned clinicians to not rule out mpox in patients with sexually transmitted infections since there have been reports of co-infections with syphilis, gonorrhea, chlamydia, and herpes.^[6]

History

As of 22 August 2022, there have been 416 laboratory-confirmed cases of mpox in Switzerland.^[7] On 24 August 2022, the Swiss Federal Council decided to order 40,000 vaccine doses from Bavarian Nordic.^[8]