First case of dangerous new mpox strain confirmed in Britain

The first case of a new, more dangerous variant of MPox has been found in Britain, the UK Health Security Agency said.

The patient, who had recently returned from Africa, was moved to a high-quality isolation unit at the Royal Free Hospital in north London, the same facility that treated imported cases of Ebola in 2015.

The virus strain – known as clade 1b mpox – is a different variant to those circulating in Britain since 2022, and is thought to cause more severe illness.

The disease, formerly known as monkeypox, is mainly spread through close contact, such as sex, skin-to-skin contact, and talking or breathing near another person.

Mpox causes a characteristic bumpy rash with pus-filled lesions, fever, pain and discomfort. It has also been linked to dangerous complications for pregnant women, including miscarriage.

The mutated mpox strain was first discovered in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) last year and has since infected more than 25,000 people and been responsible for the deaths of more than 1,000.

The World Health Organization declared a global public health emergency earlier this year due to the rapid spread of clade 1b to neighboring countries in Africa. It has since been discovered in Sweden, Germany, India and Thailand – all in patients who had traveled to affected areas.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and NHS said they will study the patient to better understand the new variant of mpox and “learn more about its severity, transmission and control measures,” the agency said in a statement.

Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting said: “The overall risk to the UK population currently remains low and the Government is working with 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 safely respond to cases.”

The UKHSA said it would not release any further information about the patient, but confirmed they had traveled to countries in Africa “where community cases of Clade 1b mpox occur.”

Cases in the DRC – the epicenter of the outbreak – continue to rise despite the recent rollout of vaccines, which are reportedly taking longer than expected to reach hard-hit areas.

The campaign was launched earlier this month in the country’s hardest-hit regions, with donations from international partners including the US, European Union and Japan.

Limited supply means there are currently only 265,000 doses available in the country of about 100 million people.

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