The Mpox ‘public health emergency of international concern’, declared by the World Health Organisation (WHO), once again highlights how vulnerable we are to the spread of infectious diseases. While Mpox is not an imminent threat to UK food businesses, it does have the potential to affect supply chains and specific localities.
As a microbiologist who has battled to prevent the spread of pathogens in the food supply chain for nearly 40 years, Alec Kyriakides, Chair of the Safe to Trade Technical Standards Committee (TSC), the first voluntary, third-party assurance scheme for the hospitality industry that puts people’s health first, shares his view on the threat of Mpox and steps that can be taken to protect against infectious disease agents.
Mpox is an infection caused by monkeypox virus (MPXV) and it is spread by direct or close contact with an infected individual, contaminated materials and contact with / consumption of infected animals. Although infection has been reported through the consumption of infected animals (“bushmeat”), the risk of transmission of MPXV through food more generally has been previously assessed as being hypothetical, with no reports of this ever occurring.
At the time of writing, Mpox is not a pandemic and has generally been restricted to countries in Central and Western Africa, with recent cases being reported in other neighbouring countries and isolated travel-associated cases in some other non-African countries.
Although there is much more to learn about the new variant of MPXV (Clade Ib), it doesn’t appear to present a similar risk of spread to SARS-CoV2 virus, the coronavirus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic.
Being Prepared is Key for a Sustainable Business
Mpox sends an important message about the importance of the ever-present need for effective food hygiene and personal hygiene measures in society, and the food supply chain. It also highlights the importance of infectious disease preparedness, essential for business resilience and sustainability.
I’m certainly not here to preach about the controls a business should have in place to manage infectious disease but it is interesting how quickly after COVID-19 that basic precautions have been forgotten by so many in both society and business. There are many non-negotiables when it comes to food hygiene that directly impact on the control of infectious disease threats, such as policies for managing colleagues who report ill (infectious disease policy), personal hygiene practices, cleaning and disinfection of utensils, equipment and surfaces, cooking and washing of food, training and many other principles that are enshrined in legislation and also in voluntary food safety standards like Safe to Trade. But the food industry, especially hospitality and retail stores, have particular hazards to manage associated with the presence of customers, some of whom will have innocuous infectious diseases like colds and coughs and others who may have more serious illnesses. It is not possible to eliminate the risk from such sources but it is possible to reduce the risk of spread by the provision of hand sanitisers, regular cleaning and disinfection of common touchpoints and protection of ready-to-eat food with covers and screens.
In addition to reviewing the controls in place for infectious disease in a food business operation, it is also important to think about how you would manage a situation where such a case was to occur in your supply chain or operation. These are generally considered in your emergency or resilience plans and the whole idea of this is to imagine scenarios that may occur and to rehearse how you would go about managing. Having dealt with hundreds of serious incidents including public recalls over my time in the industry, I can tell you that having pre-planned and rehearsed scenarios is unbelievably helpful as trying to work through this in the midst of an incident is more than stressful.
Mpox provides an important opportunity for all businesses to re-assess their controls for infectious disease agents, and their resilience plans to respond to the occurrence of cases of infectious disease in their supply chains and operations, and ask, “Am I prepared and is there more I can do?”
Suspecting a Case
If a customer or staff member shows symptoms of Mpox, which can include fever, headache, swollen lymph nodes, chills and exhaustion, joint pain and a rash that may start on the face and spread to other parts of the body, it’s crucial to act quickly. Isolate the individual, contact local health authorities, and follow their instructions. Thoroughly clean and disinfect any areas the person has been in and ensure that those who had close contact are informed and monitored.
By taking these proactive measures, you can help protect your staff, customers, and business from the risk of Mpox.