Britain identifies its first case of new mpox variant
FILE PHOTO: FILE PHOTO: An undated colorized transmission electron micrograph of mpox virus particles (pink) found within an infected cell (yellow), cultured in the laboratory, captured at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Integrated Research Facility (IRF) in Fort Detrick, Maryland. NIAID/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo
LONDON: Britain has detected its first case of new mpox variant clade 1b, the country's health security agency (UKHSA) said on Wednesday (Oct 30), adding that the risk to the population remained low.
The clade 1b variant is a new form of the virus that is linked to a global health emergency declared by the World Health Organization in August.
The case, in a patient who had recently travelled to Africa, was detected in London and the individual has been transferred to a specialist hospital, the UKHSA said.
Close contacts of the case are being followed up by UKHSA and partner organisations, the UKHSA added.
Clade 1b mpox has been widely circulating in the Democratic Republic of Congo in recent months and there have been cases reported in Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, Sweden, India and Germany.
