This colorized image from the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases’ Integrated Research Facility in Fort Detrick, Md., shows a transmission electron micrograph of mpox virus particles. France documented the first case of a new strain on Tuesday. File Photo courtesy National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases/Flickr
Jan. 7 (UPI) — French health officials on Tuesday announced the country’s first case of a dangerous new strain of the mpox virus that has created havoc in central Africa.
Officials said the patient had not traveled to the hotspot region and was involved in contact tracing with the patient. The new strain, clade 1b, concerns authorities because it can be rapidly spread and dodge current diagnostics.
“This person has been in contact with two people returning from Central Africa,” French health authorities said in a translated statement. “Investigations are underway to find the origin of the contamination and identify all the at-risk contacts around the diagnosed case.”
The strain is a subset of clade 1, which can lead to severe illness and sparked the 2022 international mpox outbreak. French officials said, however, the chance of an mpox outbreak in the country remained low.
French health authorities said cases of the mpox clade 1b strain have been confirmed in Belgium, Britain, Germany and Sweden.
Mpox clade 1b was first identified in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Mpox can cause a painful rash with skin lesions that can last for up to four weeks. Other symptoms include fever, headache, aches, back pain, sluggishness, and swollen lymph nodes.
Last year in Africa, mpox resulted in more than 1,000deaths, and more than 50,000 suspected cases.
