(Reuters) -Britain became the fifth country outside of Africa to confirm a case of the clade Ib form of the mpox virus that has triggered global concern as it seems to be spreading quickly and little is known about the strain.
The World Health Organization declared mpox a global public health emergency for the second time in two years in August, following an outbreak of the viral infection in the Democratic Republic of Congo that has spread to neighboring countries.
The following are the countries with confirmed cases of clade Ib mpox:
GERMANY
The first case of the new mpox variant has been detected in Germany, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for public health said on Oct. 22, adding that it viewed the risk to the wider population as low.
BRITAIN
Britain's health security agency (UKHSA) said on Nov. 29 another case of the new mpox variant clade Ib has been detected in England, the fifth case confirmed in the country in recent weeks.
The government agency said the risk to the population remained low.
The case was detected in Leeds and the patient had recently returned from Uganda, which is seeing community transmission of the variant. It has no links to previous cases identified that were all from the same household.
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO
Two strains of mpox are spreading in the Democratic Republic of Congo - the endemic clade I and the new clade Ib, which spreads more easily through close contact, including sexual.
As of Nov. 18, DRC has seen a total of 10,309 cases and 43 deaths in 2024.
SWEDEN
Global health officials on August 15 confirmed an infection with a new strain of the mpox virus in Sweden, the first sign of its spread outside the African continent.
Swedish health officials said at a press conference that the person was infected while in Africa with the clade Ib type of mpox involved in the recent outbreak. The person is receiving treatment.
THAILAND
An mpox case reported in Thailand was confirmed to be of the clade Ib strain of the virus, the first in the country, a disease control official said on Aug. 22.
The case was first reported on Aug. 21, and Thailand had said it was a 66-year-old European man who had arrived from an African country where the disease was spreading.
INDIA
India said on Sep. 23 that an mpox case involving a traveller in the southern state of Kerala was from the fast-spreading clade 1b variety, marking the country's first recorded case from the new strain.
The patient is a 38-year-old man who had travelled from the United Arab Emirates, Kerala authorities had said.
BURUNDI
As of Nov. 15, Burundi recorded 2,003 cases of mpox with one death. In July, the country's outbreak was declared to be driven by the clade Ib strain, the WHO said.
KENYA
As of Nov. 13, Kenya's has confirmed 17 cases of mpox with one death, according to WHO data. Genomic sequencing of 13 confirmed cases has identified the circulating strain as clade Ib.
RWANDA
As of Nov. 6, 26 clade Ib mpox cases and zero deaths had cumulatively been reported by the country, according to WHO data.
UGANDA
As of Nov. 13, Uganda has identified 521 cases of mpox, with one death, primarily driven by clade Ib, according to WHO data.
ZAMBIA
On Oct. 10, the country had reported its first case of mpox. The WHO said sequencing had identified the case as clade Ib.
(Reporting by Sneha S K, Sriparna Roy and Puyaan Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Vijay Kishore, Ed Osmond, Devika Syamnath and Maju Samuel)
