Mpox ALERT | Thailand Detects First Case of New Clade 1B Variant, Second Outside Africa

Bangkok: Amidst global concern over the spread of the Mpox infection, Thailand has confirmed a monkeypox case of the new mutated clade 1B strain, as the infection spreads to more countries outside Africa. The confirmed case in Thailand is the second case of the variant that wreaked havoc in Africa, following which the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak a new global health emergency. According to the reports, the fresh case was detected in a 66-year-old European man who arrived in Thailand last week from an unspecified African country.

The Health Ministry of Thailand stated that the authorities have identified 43 close contacts of the patient, detected a new clade 1B strain of Mpox, and put them under surveillance. Notably, the detected infection is the first such case diagnosed in Thailand. Last week, the WHO declared the viral infection a global public health emergency and since then, Mpox cases have been reported in several nations.

WHO Has Declared Mpox A Global Health Emergency

Reports suggested that clade1b is a new offshoot of clade 1 virus. According to the WHO, it was first reported in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2023 and has been spreading since then through close contact. More concerning is the threat that the new variant is harder to detect as it is targeting genitals instead of hands or chest like in earlier cases, scientists said.

Fortunately, no other local infections had been detected through contact tracing in Thailand so far. The Thailand government on Wednesday said the man confirmed as having Mpox had transited in a Middle Eastern country, which he also did not name, before flying on to Thailand.

Thailand has detected 800 cases of Mpox Clade 2 since 2022, but has not detected a case of the Clade 1 or Clade 1B variants until now.

As per the claims, clade 1B has triggered global concern due to the ease with which it spreads through routine close contact. A case of the variant was confirmed last week in Sweden and linked to a growing outbreak in Africa, the first sign of its spread outside the continent.

Mpox, also known as monkeypox, is a viral disease that causes fevers, headaches, and muscle aches, as well as painful boils on the skin. It's spread from person to person through close, skin-to-skin contact. A severe strain of the Mpox virus, previously causing panic in the Democratic Republic of Congo, is now spreading rapidly through Kenya and several other African nations, prompting serious concern among health authorities.

According to the experts, Mpox is caused by the Mpox virus, which is part of the Orthopoxvirus genus, the same family as the smallpox virus. The virus is zoonotic, meaning it is transmitted from animals to humans.

In Africa, it is primarily spread through contact with infected animals such as rodents and primates. Human-to-human transmission can also occur through close contact with infected individuals or contaminated materials.

There have been around 27,000 cases and more than 1,100 deaths, mainly among children, in Congo since the current outbreak began in January 2023. The virus has also spread to other countries like Pakistan and Sweden, intensifying fears that the world may see a repeat of the COVID-19 pandemic that engulfed the world in 2020 and halted global business.