by The first case of a more severe Mpox variant in the United States has been confirmed in a person who recently traveled to East Africa and was being treated in San Mateo County, the California Department of Public Health said Saturday.
The person diagnosed with the Clade I variant is isolating at home and recovering, while people who had close contact with the person are being notified by health authorities.
There is no evidence that the strain is spreading in California or the United States, the California Department of Public Health said. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the risk of becoming infected with clade Impox remains low in the United States.
A less serious variant called Clade II continues to circulate in the United States, including in Los Angeles and San Francisco – two of the epicenters of the latest outbreak in 2022.
In Africa, a Class I outbreak has been centered in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where there have been 6,169 confirmed cases and 25 deaths as of Oct. 6, according to the World Health Organization.
Two years ago, cases of class II Mpoxen were increasing rapidly in cities around the world, particularly in the United States. Although this strain of Mpox has rarely been fatal, officials declared a global public health emergency in July 2022. In the months that followed, the disease continued to spread. The spread of the virus steadily declined, although cases never completely disappeared.
Read more: Mpox is once again a global health emergency. How concerned should Californians be?
In August 2024, the emergence of the deadlier Clade I variant again triggered a global health alert.
However, recent evidence suggests that this Clade I outbreak may cause less severe illness than previous ones, especially if patients receive high-quality medical care, the CDC said. In the past, the strain has resulted in death rates of 3 to 11%, but in this outbreak the mortality rate appears to be closer to 1% with good medical care.
Mpox is in the same family of viruses as smallpox, but causes milder symptoms such as fever, chills and body aches.
Symptoms of both types of Mpox are similar, with more severe cases causing a rash on the hands, feet, chest, face, mouth, or genitals. Both strains are transmitted through skin-to-skin or sexual contact.
The CDC recommends that people at risk, such as: B. Men who have sex with men should take precautions. This includes getting vaccinated, avoiding skin-to-skin contact with anyone who has a rash or sores that look like smallpox, and washing your hands often.
The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health continues to recommend MPOX vaccinations for some people, including men who have sex with men or transgender people, people living with HIV, and people who have skin-to-skin or intimate contact with someone who suspected or had confirmed mpox.
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This story originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times.
