Fifth case of new deadly mpox strain detected in UK city – with NO link to other patients

A CASE of the new, mutant strain of mpox has been detected in Leeds, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has announced.

The new infection brings the number of confirmed cases of the virus in the UK, identified as clade 1b, to five.

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Despite the rise in cases, health chiefs insist the risk to the UK population "remains low".

The new case has no links to previous cases identified that were all from the same household in London.

Those four cases have all now fully recovered, UKHSA said.

The unnamed patient is believed to have contracted the bug while on holiday in Uganda, which has been affected by an outbreak.

The new mpox variant is different from the ones circulating in the UK since 2022 and is thought to cause more severe disease.

The infected patient has since been moved to the Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, where they are receiving specialist care.

Health officials are now racing to trace close contacts of the patient, who will be tested and offered vaccinations.

Professor Susan Hopkins, Chief Medical Adviser at UKHSA, said: “It is thanks to clinicians rapidly recognising the symptoms and our diagnostics tests that we have been able to detect this new case.

“The risk to the UK population remains low following this fifth case, and we are working rapidly to trace close contacts and reduce the risk of any potential spread.

"In accordance with established protocols, investigations are underway to learn how the individual acquired the infection and to assess whether there are any further associated cases.”

Mpox, previously known as monkeypox, is a viral infection that causes flu-like symptoms and pus-filled lesions.

The new clade 1b variant started spreading rapidly in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DCR) last year.

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

Since then, it has infected more than 25,000 people and is responsible for more than 1,000 deaths.

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.

Mpox mostly spreads via close contact with infected people, including through sex.

Common symptoms include a skin rash or pus-filled lesions which can last two to four weeks.

It also can cause fever, headaches, muscle aches, back pain, low energy and swollen lymph nodes

Most cases are mild but it can be deadly.

Professor Jonathan Ball, of Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, previously said the new UK cases were not "not unexpected".

"There are active human-to-human transmission chains of Clade 1b monkeypox infections in several countries in sub-Saharan Africa, and therefore people coming into close contact with anyone infected is at risk."

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.

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.