THE UK has reported its first case of a new potentially more contagious strain of mpox.
It comes as the World Health Organisation declared a global emergency over the clade 1b variant, which is currently spreading rapidly in parts of Africa.
The unnamed patient, who tested positive for the virus yesterday (October 29), caught the bug in an African country affected by the outbreak.
The patient has been transferred to the Royal Free Hospital High Consequence Infectious Diseases unit.
Health officials are now racing to find close contacts of the person, who landed back in the UK on October 21.
The UK Health Security Agency said the risk to the wider population “remains low”.
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.
Since then, it has spread internationally, reaching as far afield as Sweden and Thailand in August, as well as India last month.
Last week, the bug was detected in Germany for the first time.
Professor Susan Hopkins, Chief Medical Adviser at UKHSA, said: “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.
“In accordance with established protocols, investigations are underway to learn how the individual acquired the infection and to assess whether there are any further associated cases.”
