Germany to release monkeypox guidance, mulls vaccine options – minister
- Health minister Karl Lauterbach said men who have sex with unknown partners were currently a risk group and should be warned about the infectious disease ‘without any stigmatisation’
- Many nations where monkeypox is not endemic have reported outbreaks in recent days, mostly in Europe
Germany’s health minister on Monday expressed concern about monkeypox outbreaks and said the country was due to release quarantine guidelines on Tuesday after reporting three cases.
Nearly 20 countries where monkeypox is not endemic have reported outbreaks of the viral disease, with more than 100 confirmed or suspected infections, mostly in Europe.
“In the next few hours we will work out recommendations together with the Robert Koch Institute regarding isolation recommendations and quarantine recommendations,” German health minister Karl Lauterbach told journalists on the sidelines of the World Health Organization’s annual assembly in Geneva. “We’ll be able to present them tomorrow,” he said.
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What is monkeypox and should we be worried that it’s spreading?
Many, but not all, of the people who have been diagnosed in the current monkeypox outbreak are men who have sex with men.
Lauterbach said that men who have sex with unknown partners were currently a risk group and should be warned about monkeypox “without any stigmatisation”.
A senior World Health Organization official said earlier that the agency did not have evidence the virus has mutated.
Germany’s government is assessing options for vaccinations and Lauterbach said he had recently spoken to a monkeypox vaccination manufacturer, without giving details.
Hong Kong health authorities ask doctors to report any suspected monkeypox cases
“Vaccination of the general population is not being discussed here, we are only considering whether we might have to make vaccination recommendations for people who are particularly at risk,” he said.
The EU health agency ECDC said on Monday that the risk that the rare disease monkeypox would spread widely among the general population was “very low”, although high for certain groups.
“Most of the current cases have presented with mild disease symptoms, and for the broader population, the likelihood of spread is very low,” Andrea Ammon, director of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said.
“However, the likelihood of further spread of the virus through close contact, for example during sexual activities among persons with multiple sexual partners, is considered to be high,” she added.
Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse
