New mpox strain detected in UK spreads to household contacts of first case

LONDON: Britain has detected two more cases of the new mpox variant clade 1b in household contacts of the first case, the country’s health security agency (UKHSA) said on Monday (Nov 4), bringing the total number of confirmed cases to three.
The government agency added that the risk to the population remained low. The clade 1b variant is a new form of the virus that is linked to a global health emergency declared by the World Health Organization in August.
“Mpox is very infectious in households with close contact and so it is not unexpected to see further cases within the same household,” UKHSA said.
UKHSA said last week that the first case, in a patient who had recently travelled to affected countries in Africa, was detected in London and the individual has been transferred to a specialist hospital.
The two new patients are also under specialist care in the city, UKHSA said, adding that healthcare professionals are equipped and prepared to respond to any further confirmed cases.
Nineteen African countries have seen more than 48,000 suspected mpox cases, including 1,048 deaths so far this year, according to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), with cases in the continent surging by 500 per cent from last year.
Mpox clade 1b has also been reported in Germany, Sweden, India and Thailand.
It is a different form of the virus from clade 2, which spread globally in 2022, largely among men who have sex with men.
Mpox is a viral infection that typically causes flu-like symptoms and pus-filled lesions, and while usually mild it can kill. Clade 1b is thought to cause more severe disease than clade 2.
Both forms can be transmitted through close physical contact, including sexual contact.