Another case of the new deadly mpox strain has been discovered in Britain, health officials confirmed today.
The clade 1b mutation, which experts call “the most dangerous yet”, kills one in 10 infected and is believed to be the cause of 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 previous four cases.
Officials don’t yet know how they became infected with the strain.
But they had ‘recently’ traveled back to Britain 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, chief medical adviser at UKHSA, said: ‘Thanks to doctors quickly recognizing the symptoms and our diagnostic tests 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 previous four 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 potential spread.
‘In accordance with established protocols, investigations are underway to determine how the individual acquired the infection and to assess whether there are any further related cases.’
The UKHSA said all contacts of this fifth case will be offered testing and vaccination if necessary and advised on any further care if they have symptoms or test positive.
Britain’s first MPox case was discovered after the unidentified patient developed flu-like symptoms, followed by a rash, and went to A&E on October 27 where they were tested.
They were then transferred to a high-quality isolation unit at the Royal Free Hospital in North London – the same facility that treated imported cases of Ebola in 2015.
Earlier this month, officials confirmed that a further three patients with the strain were being treated at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust.
But all four cases, who came from the same household, have now all fully recovered, the UKHSA said today.
In May 2022, a global outbreak of MPox, formerly known as monkeypox, began in Africa.
Cases of Clade 1b in Britain are a far cry from the 2022 outbreak, where thousands of cases were recorded, mainly in London
But the newest species, Clade 1b, is considered much deadlier.
Since the outbreak began, the disease has spread through Central Africa, killing at least a thousand people.
Countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo have been hit particularly hard, with cases also seen in Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda and Kenya.
However, experts say the death rate of clade 1b from Central Africa is unlikely to be repeated in developed countries such as Britain, due to greater access to higher quality healthcare.
Britain’s five cases mean the country joins countries such as the US, Sweden, Thailand, India and Germany in cases outside Africa.
In July, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared an ongoing MPox outbreak in several Central African countries a “public health emergency of international concern.”
This is the same name the WHO gave to Covid in late January 2020, just a few weeks before the virus spread across the world, and some scientists have likened 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, lungs and other parts of the body, where it becomes life-threatening.
Current MPOX vaccines, which are designed to work against smallpox, a close relative of the MPOX virus, were used against the milder variant during the 2022 outbreak.
But they have yet to be widely tested against the more potent clade 1b strain.
The WHO and the NHS recommend a vaccine within four days of contact with someone who has the virus or within a maximum of fourteen days if there are no symptoms.
Healthcare workers and men who have sex with men are advised to get a vaccine even if they have not had exposure to MPox.
There are no immediate treatments available with clinicians instead focusing on supporting a patient to help their body fight the virus.