14 cases were recorded in France between August 28 and September 3

In total, 143 cases of MPOX have been reported by the authorities in France since January 1, 2024.

France has recorded 14 cases of mpox, formerly called monkeypox, on its territory between August 28 and September 3, according to a report from Public Health France published on Wednesday, September 4. In total, 143 cases have been recorded on the territory since January 1, 2024.“all adults, 140 men and three women”specifies the institute, whose “nearly half” in the Ile-de-France region.

“Only clade II monkeypox viruses”a less dangerous variant than its cousin “clade 1 b”, “have been detected”. The disease transmitted by this virus “is characterized in particular by a skin rash which may be isolated or preceded or accompanied by fever or swollen lymph nodes”explains the Ministry of Health in a publication updated on September 4. “Human-to-human transmission occurs through direct contact with an infected person, through bodily fluids, skin lesions from disease, or internal mucous membranes such as the mouth, as well as indirectly through objects that the patient has contaminated.” The illness usually lasts two to three weeks.

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday, August 14, triggered its highest level of international health alert in the face of the resurgence of cases of COPD in Africa. The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which has had more than 19,000 cases and more than 650 deaths since the beginning of the year, received its first vaccines on Thursday. A total of 200,000 vaccines, donated by the European Union, are to be delivered this week.

France does not recommend that travelers get vaccinated against mpox, even if they are going to one of the countries where the disease is actively circulating. The only people who are encouraged to get vaccinated against the virus are those who are “at high risk of exposure” : men who have sex with men or who have multiple partners, trans people who have multiple partners, people in prostitution, professionals in places of sexual consumption, partners or people sharing the same place of life as those mentioned in the list.