THE first case of a new, more contagious strain of mpox has been detected in the UK, health chiefs have warned.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said the risk to the UK population from the potentially more dangerous variant “remains low”.
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The unnamed patient, who tested positive on October 29 in London, is believed to have contracted the Clade 1b strain of the virus in an African country affected by the outbreak.
The new mpox variant is different from the ones circulating in the UK since 2022 and is thought to cause more severe disease.
The infected patient has since been moved to the Royal Free Hospital in London, a high-consequence infectious diseases unit where people infected with Ebola have been treated in the past.
Health officials are now racing to trace close contacts of the patient who landed back in the UK on an overnight flight on October 21.
Meanwhile, the NHS says it has plans to expand the vaccine rollout to offer more people protection against the virus if necessary.
Professor Susan Hopkins, chief medical adviser at the UKHSA, said: “It is thanks to our surveillance that we have been able to detect this virus.
“This is the first time we have detected this Clade of mpox in the UK, though other cases have been confirmed abroad.
“The risk to the UK population remains low, and we are working rapidly to trace close contacts and reduce the risk of any potential spread.”
More than 24 hours after returning home, the patient developed flu-like symptoms.
A few days later, on October 24, they started to develop a rash which got worse in the following days.
When they attended A&E in London on October 27, they were swabbed, tested and then isolated while waiting for the results.
Fewer than ten people thought to have come into contact with the patient were initially being traced, the UKHSA said.
These are household contacts, although the agency is “still working” on the number of people it may have to trace.
The infected individual doesn’t think they came into contact with anyone unwell while on holiday in Africa.
It marks the first detection of the Clade 1b strain of mpox in the UK.
Germany reported its first case earlier this month, following Sweden’s first case in August.
Mpox, previously known as monkeypox, is a viral infection that causes flu-like symptoms and pus-filled lesions.
The new clade 1b variant started spreading rapidly in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DCR) last year.
There have been cases reported in Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya and India.
Since then, it has infected more than 25,000 people and is responsible for more than 1,000 deaths.
This prompted the World Health Organisation (WHO) to name the increasing spread of the disease a global health emergency for the second time in two years.
Who can get the mpox vaccine?
The NHS is offering the smallpox (MVA) vaccine to people who are most likely to be exposed to mpox.
People who are most likely to be exposed include:
- Gay, bisexual, or other men who have sex with men (GBMSM)
- Some health workers that work on infectious disease inpatient units and sexual health services
- Some health and aid workers travel to affected countries to work within mpox response or sites with active outbreaks
- Close contacts of confirmed cases
The NHS mpox outbreak vaccination programme is currently only available in London and Greater Manchester, to people who live or travel to have sex there.
Healthcare workers will usually be offered two doses of the vaccine.
Men who are gay, bisexual or have sex with other men will be offered 2 doses of the vaccine. The 2nd dose will be offered from 2 to 3 months after the 1st dose.
Your local NHS services will contact you when you can get your 2nd dose.
The UKHSA and NHS will study the patient to “learn more about severity, transmission, and control measures,” relating to the new strain the agency said in a statement.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting said: “The overall risk to the UK population currently remains low and the government is working alongside UKHSA and the NHS to protect the public and prevent transmission.
“This includes securing vaccines and equipping healthcare professionals with the guidance and tools they need to respond to cases safely.”
Steve Russell, NHS national director for vaccination and screening, said: “The NHS is fully prepared to respond to the first confirmed case of this clade of mpox.
“Since mpox first became present in England, local services have pulled out all the stops to vaccinate those eligible, with tens of thousands in priority groups having already come forward to get protected.
“And while the risk of catching mpox in the UK remains low, if required the NHS has plans in place to expand the roll out of vaccines quickly in line with supply.”
Mpox mostly spreads via close contact with infected people, including through sex.
Common symptoms include a skin rash or pus-filled lesions which can last two to four weeks.
It also can cause fever, headaches, muscle aches, back pain, low energy and swollen lymph nodes.
Most cases are mild but it can be deadly.
Prof Jonathan Ball, of Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, said the new case is “not unexpected”.
“There are active human-to-human transmission chains of Clade 1b monkeypox infections in several countries in sub-Saharan Africa, and therefore people coming into close contact with anyone infected is at risk.”
Spreads more easily
It was earlier this year, when scientists first discovered Clade 1b.
They said that it may cause milder symptoms than clade 2 which triggered the mpox public health emergency in 2022.
However, the new variant of the bug is believed to spread more easily through close contacts.
Mpox is a viral disease that occurs mostly in central and western Africa.
It was first identified in laboratory monkeys, according to the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Currently there is no treatment approved specifically for mpox virus infections, according to the CDC.
However, a two-dose vaccine has been developed to protect against the virus.
