A vial of MPXV booster vaccine for smallpox and monkeypox.
Angelppe | Stocks | Getty Images
The UK’s first case of the new MPOX variant Ib has been detected, the UK Health and Safety Agency (UKHSA) said on Wednesday, adding that the risk to people in the country remained low.
The clade Ib variant is a new form of the virus that the World Health Organization declared a global health emergency in August after an outbreak broke out in the Democratic Republic of Congo and spread to neighboring African countries.
The UK Health Safety Authority said the case was detected in London in a patient who had recently traveled to an affected country in Africa and had been transferred to a specialist hospital.
HSA and partner organizations are tracing close contacts of the case, it added.
Cases of mpox clade Ib have been reported in Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, Sweden, India and Germany, as well as in Congo. It is a different form of the virus than clade II, which spread globally in 2022, primarily among men who have sex with men.
Mpox is a viral infection that often causes flu-like symptoms and pus-filled lesions, and while it’s usually mild, it can be fatal. Clade Ib is thought to cause more severe disease than clade II.
Both forms can be spread through close physical contact, including sexual contact.
British authorities said they would not provide further details about the patient, but added that contact tracing was ongoing and testing and vaccinations would be offered as needed if a positive test result or symptoms develop. Further care will also be provided.
According to the latest data from the World Health Organization, there have been more than 44,000 confirmed and suspected cases of MPOX in Africa this year, with more than 1,000 deaths, mostly in Congo.
