Deadly mpox strain arrives in U.S. as California sees first case in patient traveling from Africa

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced on Saturday that a case of clade I mpox had been confirmed in California, the first instance of the strain in the US.

A recent traveler from Eastern Africa was diagnosed with the illness, according to the CDC. It further stated that the individual was treated at a nearby medical institution immediately after arriving back in the country and then released. “Since then, the person has isolated at home, is not on treatment specific for mpox, and symptoms are improving,” the CDC said.

The CDC is receiving the specimens for further virus characterisation. The state and CDC are also collaborating to find and get in touch with any contacts, the agency said.

“There is no concern or evidence that this form of the mpox virus, clade 1, is currently spreading between individuals in California or the United States,” according to the California health department. Nevertheless, public health workers are notifying close contacts of person, the department said.

The infectious virus produces a rash with painful lesions and flu-like symptoms. However, it can result in serious sickness and, in extreme circumstances, death.

Officials stated that there is little risk to the public. It is unlikely that casual contact—like that which occurs in a store, office, or while traveling—will present serious risks of transmission. Due to improved access to healthcare upon returning home, recent clade 1 mpox cases linked to travel from Africa have been linked to comparatively milder disease as compared to those within Africa.

The first incidence of clade 1 mpox was reported by the UK Health Security Agency earlier this month. The individual in question had visited an affected East African nation and subsequently infected three household contacts.

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Cases linked to travel have been documented in Zambia, Zimbabwe, Sweden, Germany, India, and Kenya. Because there aren’t many direct commercial flights from Congo or its neighboring nations, U.S. officials have stated that there is little chance of this mpox strain reaching the United States.

“We all felt it was bound to happen because of travel, and spread is already happening in other countries,” said Lauren Sauer, director of the Special Pathogens Research Network, a government-funded consortium of medical institutes focusing on training and teaching.

Since the clade 1 strain of mpox has historically caused more severe illness and death than the clade 2 strain, which spread globally in 2022, with occasional cases still being reported in the United States, global health authorities have been warning about the ongoing spread of the clade 1 strain for months.

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