Thailand reports suspected case of new mpox strain

BANGKOK: Thailand on Wednesday (Aug 21) reported a suspected first case of the new more dangerous strain of mpox, which the World Health Organization has declared a global public health emergency.

The patient is a European who arrived in Thailand on Aug 14 from an African country where it was spreading, said Thongchai Keeratihattayakorn, head of the kingdom's Department of Disease Control.

He did not name the African country

Laboratory tests are underway to confirm the strain, but officials believe it to be from Clade 1. The infected person has been quarantined in hospital.

"We have done a test and they definitely have mpox and it's definitely not Clade 2," Thongchai told AFP.

"We are convinced the person has the Clade 1 variant, but we have to wait to see the final result in the lab for two more days."

Mpox cases and deaths are surging in Africa, where outbreaks have been reported in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda since July.

The disease, caused by a virus transmitted by infected animals but passed from human to human through close physical contact, causes fever, muscular aches and large boil-like skin lesions.

While mpox has been known for decades, a new more deadly and more transmissible strain - known as Clade 1b - has driven the recent surge in cases.

Clade 1b causes death in about 3.6 per cent of cases, with children more at risk, according to the WHO.

Formerly called monkeypox, the virus was discovered in 1958 in Denmark, in monkeys kept for research.

DR Congo has reported more than 16,000 cases and 500 deaths this year.

On Aug 15, Sweden reported the first confirmed Clade 1 case outside Africa.