Fears new mpox strain spreading in UK after case with no travel history
The new, more dangerous mpox strain has been detected in England in a person with no travel history or links to other cases, raising fears the virus could be spreading undetected.
All nine previous UK cases of the new variant, known as clade 1b, had been in people who had either returned recently from Africa, or been in close contact with someone who had.
But the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) on Monday said it had launched an investigation to understand how an individual living in the North East of England had caught the virus.
The agency said the person, who has not been identified, was diagnosed with clade 1b mpox in March. No other cases have yet been identified.
Clade 1b emerged from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in November 2023, and differs from the variants that have been circulating in the UK since 2022.
It is thought to cause more severe disease, with symptoms including a lumpy rash of pus-filled lesions, fever, aches and, in some cases, death. It has also been linked to dangerous complications for pregnant women including miscarriage.
Mpox is spread through close contact, primarily through sex. But it can also can be transmitted by talking or breathing close to another person.
'While mpox infection is mild for many, it can be severe for some and UKHSA is committed to preventing its spread within the UK,' said Dr Gillian Armstrong, the UKHSA's Mpox Incident Director.
'Regardless of whether you have travelled or not, it is important to remain alert to the risks,' Dr Armstrong added.
The World Health Organization (WHO) declared a global health emergency earlier this year due to clade 1b's rapid spread to neighbouring countries in Africa.
The new variant has since been detected in Sweden, Germany, India, and Thailand – all in patients who had travelled to affected areas.
Cases in the DRC are continuing to rise despite the recent rollout of vaccines, owing to conflict in the Eastern part of the country between the army and the Rwandan-backed M23 rebels, which is severely hampering the country's outbreak response.
More than 25,000 people have been infected and 1,000 have died in the DRC since clade 1b first emerged a year and a half ago.
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