The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) has reported the first known US case of an emerging strain of MPOX virus, According to a CDPH release Saturday.
A case of “Clade I mpox” was identified in a traveler recently returned from Africa, where this strain is actively circulating. CDPH officials have emphasized that the risk to the public is “very low.”
The individual, who sought medical care in San Mateo County due to a history of travel to East Africa and symptoms, is in home isolation.
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Clade I mpox, historically associated with more severe disease than clade II — the strain responsible for the 2022 outbreak in California and the U.S. — has shown mild clinical presentations in recent cases as long as patients receive medical care. be
CDPH has notified the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of the case, and the patient’s samples are being sent for further laboratory analysis.
A new strain of MPox was recorded in a case discovered in California, the first in the United States. (iStock)
Public health officials are contacting people who may have had close contact with the patient, although there is no evidence of community transmission of Clade I mpox in California or the rest of the country.
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Both clade I and clade II mpox are spread primarily through close, skin-to-skin, intimate, or sexual contact. In its release, CDPH also reassured the public that casual contact, such as in offices, classrooms, or stores, poses a minimal risk of transmission of MPOX.
According to the CDC, the latest strain spreads primarily through close skin-to-skin contact, including sexual contact, and has the potential to cause severe illness and even death. It first emerged in eastern Congo.
A patient infected with MPox shows his body wounds in Kamitoga, South Kivu province, east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, on September 20. (Glody Murhabazi/AFP via Getty Images)
Since September, more than 31,000 confirmed cases of this strain of MPox have been documented globally, with the majority concentrated in three African countries: Burundi, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, according to the World Health Organization. Health Organization has reported.
The CDC has also identified travel-related cases of this new MPOX strain in countries including Germany, India, Kenya, Sweden, Thailand, Zimbabwe and the United Kingdom.
The CDC has issued enhanced precautions for travelers to Central and East Africa, where clade I mpox continues to spread.
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According to the CDC, no deaths have yet been reported from this new strain.
CDPH did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
