Deadly mpox variant Clade 1b spreads in Europe amid rush for vaccines
November 21, 2025
Europe is now contending with the spread of the more virulent clade 1b mpox variant, a strain with fatality rates reaching 10 percent in children. The emergence of cases across ten European nations underscores a broader failure to deliver vaccines to African regions where the disease remains endemic. Experts have warned that delayed vaccination campaigns created the conditions for the virus to reemerge globally. While the European Commission has since secured up to eight million doses from Bavarian Nordic, the damage reveals a critical lesson: global health security depends on equitable prevention, not reactionary containment after predictable spread.
The reemergence of the clade 1b mpox variant across Europe signals a preventable failure in global health preparedness. With confirmed cases in ten European countries and hospitalizations reported, public health officials are confronting a variant known for its high mortality rate, particularly among children. The spread, experts argue, was “inevitable” after years of underinvestment in African vaccination efforts, where mpox has continued to circulate widely.
Professor Michael Marks of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine called the situation a consequence of the global community’s neglect, describing the suffering and renewed international spread as “avoidable.” His warning is a stark reminder that diseases ignored in one region will not remain confined to it. Despite the availability of an effective vaccine, Africa continues to face dose shortages and logistical barriers, even three years after the initial clade 2 outbreak.
The World Health Organization reports 17 countries with active mpox transmission, and Europe’s growing list of infections now includes Germany, France, the Netherlands, and the UK. Most European cases have links to travel from affected countries, underscoring how interconnected public health truly is. The United Kingdom alone has confirmed 19 clade 1b infections since 2024.
The European Commission’s recent contract with Bavarian Nordic, which secures up to eight million doses for Europe with provisions for lower-cost donations to low-income nations, represents progress but also belated recognition. Reactive measures cannot substitute for proactive investment in global vaccine equity.
Mpox’s resurgence across continents reflects a broader truth: pandemics do not arise in isolation but from inequities in access, surveillance, and response. Without sustained global collaboration, health systems will remain trapped in a cycle of crisis management rather than prevention—a costly pattern that the mpox crisis has again made impossible to ignore.