First US case of severe mpox strain confirmed in travelers: health officials – National

Health officials said Saturday they have confirmed the first U.S. case of a new form of MPOX, which was first seen in eastern Congo.

The person had traveled to East Africa and was treated in Northern California upon return, the California Department of Public Health said. Symptoms are improving and the risk to the public is low.

The person was in isolation at home and health care workers are contacting close contacts as a precaution, the state health department said.

Mpox is a rare disease caused by infection with a virus that belongs to the same family as the virus that causes smallpox. The disease is endemic in parts of Africa, where people have become infected through bites from rodents or small animals. Milder symptoms may include fever, chills, and body aches. In more severe cases, people can develop lesions on the face, hands, chest and genitals.

Earlier this year, scientists reported the emergence of a new form of MPOX in Africa, spread through close contact, including through sex. It was widely transmitted in East and Central Africa. But in the cases identified in travelers outside the continent, the spread has been very limited, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

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More than 3,100 confirmed cases have only been reported since the end of September, according to the World Health Organization. The vast majority of them were in three African countries: Burundi, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

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Since then, cases of travelers using the new MPOX form have been reported in Germany, India, Kenya, Sweden, Thailand, Zimbabwe and the United Kingdom.

Health officials said earlier this month that the situation in Congo appears to be stabilizing. The African CDC estimates that Congo needs at least three million MPox vaccines to stop the spread, and another seven million vaccines for the rest of Africa. The spread occurs mainly through sexual transmission and through close contact between children, pregnant women and other vulnerable groups.

The current outbreak differs from the 2022 global outbreak of MPOX, in which gay and bisexual men made up the vast majority of cases.

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