The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) has reported the first known case in the United States of an emerging strain of the mpox virus. According to the CDPH release Saturday.
Cases of 'clade I mpox' were identified in travelers who had recently returned from Africa, where this strain is actively circulating. CDPH officials stressed that the risk to the public remains “very low.”
The individual sought medical attention in San Mateo County due to his travel history to East Africa and symptoms, but is currently in isolation at home.
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Clade I mpox have historically been associated with more severe disease than clade II (the strains responsible for outbreaks in California and the United States since 2022), but as long as patients receive medical care. , recent cases have shown mild clinical symptoms.
CDPH has reported the case to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and samples taken from the patient are being sent for further laboratory analysis.
The new strain of mpox has been documented in a case discovered in California, the first in the United States. (St. Petersburg)
Public health officials are contacting people who may have had close contact with the patient, but there is no evidence of community transmission of clade I mpox in California or elsewhere.
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Both clade I and clade II mpox are spread primarily by close, skin-to-skin, intimate, or sexual contact. In the release, CDPH also reassured the public that the risk of mpox infection is minimal through casual contact in offices, classrooms, and stores.
The latest virus strain is primarily spread through close skin-to-skin contact, including sexual contact, and can cause severe illness and even death, according to the CDC. It first appeared in eastern Congo.
On September 20, lesions are seen on the body of a patient infected with mpox in Kamituga, South Kivu province, eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. (Glody Mulhabazi/AFP via Getty Images)
The World Health Organization reports that since September, more than 31,000 confirmed cases of this strain of mpox have been recorded around the world, with the majority in three African countries: Burundi, Uganda, and Democratic Congo. Concentrated on the Republic.
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.
CDC has increased precautions for travelers to Central and East Africa, where clade I mpox remains endemic.
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No deaths have yet been reported from the new strain, according to the CDC.
CDPH did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
