A case of clade 1b mpox virus has been confirmed in England, but no links have been found to other known infected people.
The case, from northeast England, was diagnosed in March and had “no reported travel history” or links with previously confirmed infections in the UK. A probe is underway to determine how the patient caught the infection. Patient’s contacts have been followed up and no further cases were identified, Britain’s health security agency said.
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Jonas Albarnaz of the Pirbright Institute described the case as “surprising” because prior infected individuals had recent travel history to an affected country or contact with someone who had. Albarnaz added: “It’s likely that it was acquired from another infected person, via direct contact either with skin lesions or with contaminated surfaces or objects.”
The clade lb variant is a new form of the virus that is linked to a global health emergency declared by the World Health Organisation in August. It is no longer classified as high consequence infection diseases in UK.
The latest case is the ninth case of clade Ib mpox confirmed in England. Common symptoms of mpox include a skin rash or pus-filled lesions which can last two to four weeks. It can also cause fever, headaches, muscle aches, back pain, low energy, and swollen lymph nodes.
