Mpox: New case of Clade 1b strain detected in UK

Four cases of the Clade 1b variant have been confirmed in the UK, all of them belonging to the same household, and health officials say the overall risk to the population remains low.

Wednesday 6 November 2024 19:44, UK

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Another case of the new strain of mpox has been detected in the UK, health officials have said.

It brings the total number of confirmed cases of the Clade 1b variant in the UK to four.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said all of the cases were from the same household.

How is the new mpox strain different?

Last week, the agency said a single case of the mpox virus variant Clade 1b had been confirmed in London in a person who had been on holiday in Africa and travelled back to the UK on an overnight flight on 21 October.

They developed flu-like symptoms more than 24 hours later and, on 24 October, started to develop a rash which worsened in the following days.

The agency later announced a further two cases - in household contacts of the first case.

The fourth case is also a household contact of the first case, the UKHSA said.

The patient is under specialist care at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust in London.

Professor Susan Hopkins, UKHSA's chief medical adviser, said the illness is "very infectious in households with close contact and so it is not unexpected to see further cases within the same household."

The overall risk to the UK population remains low, Professor Hopkins said.

The agency said it is following up with anyone who comes into contact with someone suffering from the illness and all contacts "will be offered testing and vaccination as needed" while "extensive planning" is underway so that healthcare professionals are equipped and ready for any further cases.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) said these are the first locally transmitted mpox Clade 1b cases in Europe, and the first outside of Africa since it declared a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) because of the rapid spread of the strain in August.

Germany also reported its first Clade 1b case on 22 October.

DRC remains the disease epicentre

But the current surge is most prevalent in Africa and WHO said on Wednesday it had allocated an initial 899,000 doses of mpox vaccine for the nine African countries that have been "hit hard".

They are the Central African Republic (CAR), Ivory Coast, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, and Uganda.

DRC, which has recorded 80% of the laboratory-confirmed cases in Africa this year, will receive 85% of the doses, WHO said on its website.

More than 38,000 suspected cases and more than 1,000 deaths have been reported in 2024 in the DRC, which remains the epicentre of the outbreak, WHO said.

So far, 19 African countries have reported mpox, many of them newly affected by the viral illness.

What are the symptoms of mpox and how is it passed on?

Common symptoms of the disease include a skin rash or pus-filled lesions, which can last between two to four weeks. It can also cause fever, headaches, muscle aches, back pain, low energy and swollen lymph nodes.

Mpox, and the Clade 1b strain, is usually passed on by close physical contact, contact with infected animals, or sexual transmission.

The UK has a stock of mpox vaccines and officials said last month more were being obtained to support a routine immunisation programme.