The first UK case of a potentially deadly strain of the mpox virus has been detected in London.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said the risk to the UK population from the Clade Ib mpox strain “remains low”.
Mpox has been declared a global health emergency by the World Health Organization (WHO) in Africa.
The person involved had been on holiday in Africa and travelled back to the UK on an overnight flight on October 21.
They developed flu-like symptoms more than 24 hours later and, on October 24, started to develop a rash which worsened in the following days.
The person attended an emergency department in London on 27 October, where they were swabbed, tested and sent home to isolate while waiting for the results.
They have now been transferred to the Royal Free Hospital’s high consequence infectious diseases unit for treatment.
Fewer than 10 people who are thought to have come into contact with the patient are initially being traced, the UKHSA said.
These are household contacts, although the UKHSA is “still working” on the number of people it may have to contact trace.
Clade I mpox has been deemed more severe than clade II mpox, which was responsible for the global outbreak in 2022.
The Government has ordered more mpox vaccine doses to help boost the country’s resilience against the strain of mpox as it also continues to support the international effort to control the disease.
There is an ongoing clade I outbreak in Africa, with cases of clade Ia increasing in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) as well as the spread of clade Ib.
In August, a declaration of a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) was made by the WHO over clade 1b, which first emerged in the DRC last year.
Mpox – formerly known as monkeypox – only spreads between people when there is close contact.