More cases of new killer mpox strain ‘likely undetected’ in UK, experts warn – after 3 cases confirmed

MPOX may be spreading silently in the UK, experts warn, as officials race to contain a looming crisis.

Three housemates living in London have already tested positive for the strain, never seen before in this country.

Contact with bedding towels or clothing can also increase the possibility of spread. As can close and prolonged face-to-face contact such as talking, breathing, coughing or sneezing.

Clade Ib mpox has been widely circulating in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DCR) since April 2023.

But in recent months, the Clade 1b strain has reached other continents, including Europe and Asia.

Germany reported its first case of the mutant bug earlier this month, following Sweden’s first case in August.

There have also been cases reported in Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, Thailand and India.

Scientists are already concerned by how fast the new variant of the disease is spreading, and by its high fatality rate.

This prompted the World Health Organisation (WHO) to name the increasing spread of the disease a global health emergency for the second time in two years.

The Clade 1b is different from the Clade 2 strain that has been circulating in the UK since 2022.

The first UK case tested positive for the Clade 1b strain on October 29 in London and is believed to have contracted the virus while on holiday in an African country affected by the outbreak.

They were moved to the Royal Free Hospital in London, a high-consequence infectious diseases unit where people infected with Ebola have been treated in the past.

Who can get the mpox vaccine?

The NHS is offering the smallpox (MVA) vaccine to people who are most likely to be exposed to mpox.

People who are most likely to be exposed include:

• Gay, bisexual, or other men who have sex with men (GBMSM)
• Some health workers that work on infectious disease inpatient units and sexual health services
• Some health and aid workers travel to affected countries to work within mpox response or sites with active outbreaks
• Close contacts of confirmed cases

The NHS mpox outbreak vaccination programme is currently only available in London and Greater Manchester, to people who live or travel to have sex there.

Healthcare workers will usually be offered two doses of the vaccine.

Men who are gay, bisexual or have sex with other men will be offered 2 doses of the vaccine. The 2nd dose will be offered from 2 to 3 months after the 1st dose.

Your local NHS services will contact you when you can get your 2nd dose

Spreads more easily

It was earlier this year when scientists first discovered Clade 1b.

They said that it may cause milder symptoms than Clade 2 which triggered the mpox public health emergency in 2022.

However, the new variant of the bug is believed to spread more easily through close contacts, according to Prof Thomas House, a Mathematical Statistics expert from the University of Manchester.

“Under the assumption that the current outbreak is equally infectious to the 2022 outbreak, a cluster involving two household infections should increase the credibility of the hypothesis that the current outbreak is more infectious in households than 2022,” he explained.

Mpox is a viral disease that occurs mostly in central and western Africa.

It was first identified in laboratory monkeys, according to the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Currently there is no treatment approved specifically for mpox virus infections, according to the CDC.

However, a two-dose vaccine has been developed to protect against the virus.