UK Detects First Case Of Mpox Clade Ib

JAKARTA - The UK detected the first case of a new variant of the camppox clade Ib. The UK's health safety agency (UKHSA) said risks to the population were still low.

Variant clade Ib is a new form of the virus declared a global health emergency by the World Health Organization (WHO) in August, after an outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo spread to neighboring countries in Africa.

The case occurred in a patient who recently traveled to affected countries in Africa.

Reported by Reuters on Thursday, October 30, the patient was detected in London and transferred to a specialist hospital. Close contacts of this case are being followed up by UKHSA and its partner organizations.

The case of the MPx clade Ib was previously reported in Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, Sweden, India and Germany, as well as Congo. This is a different form of the virus from the class II virus, which spread globally in 2022, mostly occurring among men who have sex with men.

Mpox is a viral infection that usually causes flu-like and lesion-filled symptoms, and although usually mild, it can kill.