Attal declared that France, in the face of the smallpox virus, was “in a state of maximum vigilance.”

Health – Prime Minister Gabriel Attal announced on Friday, August 16, that the French health system would be put in place. “state of high alert” In the face of the smallpox epidemic, cases of which have been discovered in Sweden and then in Pakistan in recent days.

The outgoing prime minister gave an update on the situation on Friday with ministers Catherine Vautrin and Frédéric Faletau, while the resurgence of smallpox – formerly known as monkeypox – in the Democratic Republic of Congo prompted the World Health Organization to declare a public health emergency of international concern on Wednesday, its highest level of alert.

“After this meeting, we are putting our health system on maximum alert.”Gabriel Attal explained on X.

New cases in Europe and Asia

He pointed out that “New media measures and recommendations” It will be created for people travelling in risk areas, and health authorities will be asked to decide on it. “Update recommendations” Related vaccinations “target population”.

A “Donating vaccines to the most affected countries” It was also decided, at the request of Emmanuel Macron, to confirm the outgoing Prime Minister, who will give a new update on the situation on Monday.

Sweden announced on Thursday that it had recorded a case of the clade 1b subtype, the same new strain that has appeared in the Democratic Republic of the Congo since September 2023, and is more deadly and deadly than subtype 2, which is endemic in West Africa.

Then Asia recorded its first case of smallpox on Friday in Pakistan. Mpox is a viral disease that spreads from animals to humans but is also transmitted through close physical contact with someone infected with the virus.

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