According to the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), two more people in the UK have tested positive for the new mpox variant, clade Ib. The new cases have been reported to be of the household contacts of the first case. This has taken the number of the confirmed cases in the UK to three. UKHSA has stated that the overall risk is still low regarding the general public risk in mpox, adding that the virus usually transmits within homes due to contact.
The clade Ib variant is new in mpox and closely associated with a global health issue reported by the WHO earlier this year.
The first UK case of this variant concerns a patient from London with time spent in African nations that have reported a high incidence of mpox.
Mpox is an acute, contagious viral disease with symptoms that are much like smallpox including a fever, rash, and lesions that pus. While it normally is a mild disease, mpox may become complicated and fatal. Clade Ib has been found to cause a more severe form of the disease than the version of the virus that affected the world in 2022.
New information from Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) shows that mpox outbreaks have risen in multiple African nations. The study found that 48,000 suspected cases had been registered, and 1,048 people had died in 2023 alone. Some of the most impacted nations are the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the surrounding areas. These statistics reveal a 500% mpox cases increase in Africa as compared to the past year.
This new clade Ib variant was first identified in Africa and has also been found in other countries such as Germany, Sweden, India, and Thailand. While Europe has spotted few cases, the spread of clade II across various continents is therefore actively observed by the relevant departments of health. UKHSA continues to engage local and global collaborators in tracking down the people who may have had contact with the virus thus trying to control the spread.
As the clade Ib variant is present in only one house of a person who recently traveled from India to the UK, UKHSA uses the opportunity to caution the public and encourage the putting in place of measures that arrest the spread of the new variant.
