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Mpox Cases In UK: UK health officials have confirmed four new cases of the new, more infectious version of mpox that first emerged in DR Congo, Clade 1b. This is the first time that this variant has caused a cluster of the illness outside of Africa. This is the same strain that led the World Health Organisation (WHO) to declare Mpox as a public health emergency.

According to reports, authorities announced the first case of the new form of mpox in the U.K. last week. They said that the case was being treated at a London hospital after recently travelling to countries in Africa with ongoing outbreaks.

The U.K. Health Security Agency, this week, said, it had now identified three further cases who lived in the same household as the first patient. They too are now being treated at a hospital in London.

Susan Hopkins, chief medical advisor of the U.K. Health Security Agency said, “Mpox is very infectious in households with close contact and so it is not unexpected to see further cases within the same household.”

Britain recorded more than 3,000 cases of the other strain of mpox during a 2022 outbreak that hit more than 100 countries. Also, the variant of mpox has also caused outbreaks in Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda. Single cases in travellers have also been reported in Sweden, India, Germany and Thailand.

The WHO on Wednesday, said it had allocated 899,900 vaccine doses to nine African countries struggling with mpox epidemics.

Mpox, also known as monkeypox is a viral disease that’s caused by the monkeypox virus. It is a zoonotic disease and hence it can spread from animal to humans. It was first discovered in monkeys and hence, it was earlier named monkeypox. Mpox usually causes painful rash, enlarged lymph nodes and fever.

While most people recover from the condition, however, some people might get very sick. There are two strains of mpox; Clade I and Clade II. Experts say that the Clade I type of mpox virus has a fatality rate of around 10%. Infections in the 2022–2023 outbreak were from Clade II or more specifically, Clade IIb. Infections with Clade IIb are rarely fatal. More than 99% of people who get this form of the disease are likely to survive.

However, the Clade Ib infection can be deadly. It has a high fatality rate and hence, with the current outbreak of the illness in Africa, it has claimed nearly 1,000 lives and nearly 43,000 suspect cases.

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