Another case of the deadly new strain of mpox has been detected in the UK, health officials confirmed today.
The clade 1b mutation, which experts have called “the most dangerous yet,” kills one in ten infected and is believed to be behind a wave of miscarriages.
The total number of confirmed cases in Britain now stands at five. The unidentified patient, from Leeds, had no links to the four previous cases.
Authorities still do not know how they became infected with the strain.
But they had “recently” traveled back to the UK from Uganda, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said.
The latest patient is under specialist care at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, 160 miles from where the first four cases were identified in London.
However, health chiefs say they still consider the threat clade 1b poses to the public to be “low”.
Professor Susan Hopkins, UKHSA chief medical adviser, said: “Thanks to doctors’ quick recognition of the symptoms and our diagnostic testing, we have been able to detect this new case.”
The total number of confirmed cases in Britain now stands at five. The unidentified patient, from Leeds, had no links to the four previous cases.
“The risk to the UK population remains low following this fifth case, and we are working quickly to trace close contacts and reduce the risk of any potential spread.
“In accordance with established protocols, investigations are being carried out to find out how the individual acquired the infection and to evaluate whether there are other associated cases.”
The UKHSA said all contacts of this fifth case will be offered testing and vaccinations as necessary and will be informed of any further care needed if they have symptoms or test positive.
The first case of mpox in the UK was detected after the unnamed patient developed flu-like symptoms, followed by a rash, and attended A&E on October 27, where he was tested.
They were then moved to a high-level isolation unit at the Royal Free Hospital in north London, the same facility where imported Ebola cases were treated in 2015.
Earlier this month, officials confirmed that three more patients were being treated with the strain at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust.
But all four cases, who were from the same household, have now fully recovered, the UKHSA said today.
In May 2022, a global outbreak of mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, began in Africa.
Clade 1b cases in the UK are a far cry from the 2022 outbreak, where thousands of cases were recorded, mainly in London.
But the latest Clade 1b strain is considered much deadlier.
It has spread across central Africa killing at least 1,000 people since the outbreak began.
Countries such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo have been especially affected and cases have also been detected in Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda and Kenya.
However, experts say central African clade 1b mortality rates are unlikely to be replicated in developed countries such as the UK due to better access to higher quality healthcare.
Britain’s five cases mean it joins countries such as the United States, Sweden, Thailand, India and Germany in having cases outside Africa.
In July, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared an ongoing mox outbreak in several Central African nations a “public health emergency of international concern.”
This is the same designation that the WHO gave to Covid in late January 2020, just weeks before the virus swept the world, and some scientists have compared the current outbreak to the “early days of HIV.”
Mpox causes characteristic lumpy lesions, as well as fever, pain, and fatigue.
However, in a small number of cases, it can enter the blood and lungs, as well as other parts of the body, when it is life-threatening.
The current mpox vaccines, which are designed to act against smallpox, a close relative of the mpox virus, were used during the 2022 outbreak against the milder strain.
But they have yet to be extensively tested against the most potent clade 1b strain.
The WHO and NHS recommend getting vaccinated within four days of contact with someone who has the virus or within 14 days if there are no symptoms.
It is recommended that healthcare workers and men who have sex with men receive the vaccine even if they have not been exposed to mpox.
There are no direct treatments available with doctors who focus rather on helping the patient help their body fight the virus.