New strain of mpox virus detected in China

The Chinese health authorities said they had detected the new mutated mpox strain clade Ib, Reuters reported.

China’s Centre for Disease Control and Prevention provided the information on Thursday (January 9).

The World Health Organisation (WHO) declared a global public health emergency in 2023 as the viral infection spreads to more countries.

China’s Centre for Disease Control and Prevention said it had found a cluster outbreak of the Ib subclade that started with the infection of a foreigner who has a history of travel and residence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

Four further cases have been found in people infected after close contact with the foreigner. The patients’ symptoms are mild and include skin rash and blisters.

Mpox spreads through close contact and causes flu-like symptoms and pus-filled lesions on the body. Although usually mild, it can be fatal in rare cases.

In August 2024, WHO declared mpox a global public health emergency for the second time in two years, following an outbreak in the DRC that spread to neighbouring countries.

The outbreak in DRC began with the spread of an endemic strain, known as clade I. But the clade Ib variant appears to spread more easily through routine close contact, including sexual contact.

The variant has spread from DRC to neighbouring countries, including Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda, triggering the emergency declaration from the WHO.