US Public Health Service reported the first confirmed case of a person infected with a new strain of mpox in the country.
The person caught mpox while travelling to East Africa and was treated for a mild illness in San Mateo, California, is now self-isolated at home and recovering.
There is no evidence that mpox is spreading in the US. The risk to the public remains low. Mpox is transmitted through close contact, including sexual contact, kissing, hugging or other skin-to-skin contact. Symptoms include blisters on the skin, sores on the body and flu-like symptoms such as headache, backache and muscle pain.
In August, the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared a global health emergency due to a new strain of mpox known as clade Ib, which is spreading mainly in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Uganda and Burundi. Symptoms of the new strain appear to be more severe and more likely to lead to death. More than 3,100 cases of mpox clade Ib have been reported globally since the end of September.
The US has been facing the virus since 2022 after WHO issued a global health emergency due to the spread of the disease, which is endemic to Central and West Africa. However, the spread of the virus has only been confirmed at a low level. However, cases of travellers with the new variant were reported in Thailand, Germany, India, Sweden and the UK.
