HEALTH authorities in the UK have started to prepare for any potential cases of a deadlier and more contagious variant of the mpox virus.
The clade 1b strain, which can kill up to 10% of those infected, emerged in the Democratic Republic of the Congo last year.
Sweden announced the first detected case of the variant outside Africa on Thursday, with the WHO declaring it a "global emergency" on Wednesday.
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Dr Meera Chand, a UK Health Security Agency deputy director, said: “The risk to the UK population is currently considered low. However, planning is under way to prepare for any cases that we might see in the UK.
“This includes ensuring that clinicians are aware and able to recognise cases promptly, that rapid testing is available, and that protocols are developed for the safe clinical care of people who have the infection and the prevention of onward transmission.”
Mpox, previously known as monkeypox, was first detected in humans in 1970.
The disease, which is usually mild but can kill, causes flu-like symptoms and forms pus-filled lesions on the skin.
Pregnant people, people with vulnerable immune systems and children are particularly vulnerable.
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WHO director general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern on Wednesday.
A less infectious variant of the virus spread in the UK in 2022 and 2023, leading to around 50 cases in Scotland with no deaths reported.
Symptoms include a high temperature, a headache, body aches, swollen glands, exhaustion, chills and rash.
The virus most commonly spreads through touch, with sexual contact being a major vector for its spread.
It can also spread through respiratory droplets created while talking, coughing or sneezing, and through contact with bedding or clothing previously touched by someone with mpox.
Most cases in the UK have historically been among men who have sex with men, with the NHS advising that gay and bisexual men become aware of the symptoms.
An mpox vaccine is available at some sexual health clinics in Scotland, with more information available here.
More information on mpox is available on the NHS Scotland website.
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