Second strain of monkeypox found in UK
A second strain of monkeypox has been identified in the UK, health officials have said.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) found that one person who had recently been to West Africa had contracted the virus and that it is genetically distinct to the one causing the UK outbreak.
Current guidance states that if a case of monkeypox is known to be imported from West Africa, a region where monkeypox has been endemic for decades, then the individual must be admitted to a High Consequence Infectious Disease (HCID) hospital unit for monitoring.
As a result, the individual was admitted to the HCID ward at Royal Liverpool University Hospital and preliminary analysis revealed the type of monkeypox virus the person contracted is a different strain to the one widely circulating in the UK.
Health officials are now tracking down any close contacts the person may have had. It remains unknown how the person caught monkeypox, and if they are male or female.
Dr Sophia Maki, Incident Director, UKHSA, said: “We are working to contact the individuals who have had close contact with the case prior to confirmation of their infection, to assess them as necessary and provide advice.
“UKHSA and the NHS have well established and robust infection control procedures for dealing with cases of imported infectious disease and these will be strictly followed and the risk to the general public is very low.
“We remind everyone who is planning to travel to West and Central Africa to be alert for the symptoms of monkeypox and to call 111 if you have symptoms on your return.”
Although the case was escalated to being a HCID due to pre-existing rules, it allowed for the genetic screening of the infection.
There are two main versions of the monkeypox virus, Clade I and Clade II, previously known as the Congo Basin and West African clade, respectively.
The former has a mortality rate of around one in ten, while the death rate for the latter is around one in 100.
Clade II has two known sub-clades, and the current UK and worldwide outbreak is Clade IIb, the less deadly variant.
It remains unknown if the new imported case from West Africa is the first instance of someone on British soil having the more deadly version of the disease, but it remains a possibility until more detailed tests are performed.
Further analysis is currently ongoing to see if this isolated case is Clade I, another sub-strain of Clade II, or a new clade altogether.
There are now at least 3,279 known cases of monkeypox in the UK, with just 79 identified in the last week, down from 126 the week before and 167 the week before that.
The UKHSA is confident the outbreak is declining in Britain despite the global tally now topping 50,000, according to the WHO.
The world’s first trial for a monkeypox drug, tecovirimat – also known as Tpoxx – is now being trialled by the same Oxford team behind Recovery, the trial which found effective Covid cures.
The UK is currently running chronically low on monkeypox jabs after burning through its 50,000 stockpile and is currently waiting on a bumper delivery of 100,000 new doses from jab manufacturer Bavarian Nordic.
As a result, one-fifth jabs are now being trialled to extend resources, and sexual partners, as well as other close contacts, of known cases are no longer eligible for the jab.
