NBC NEWS – The U.S. on Saturday reported its first case of a more aggressive strain of mpox [monkeypox]: an individual in California who had recently traveled from eastern Africa.
The case was confirmed by the California Department of Public Health and reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The person was treated in San Mateo County based on their travel history and symptoms and is now isolating at home and recovering, the state’s health department said in a press release.
Public health workers are contacting people who had close contact with the patient, “but there is no concern or evidence” that the strain is currently spreading in California or the U.S., the statement said.
The U.S. is the sixth country outside of Africa to have detected the strain, according to the CDC, which can cause more severe disease than the version of the virus that spread widely in 2022.
“Mpox spreads through direct contact with an infected person, animal or contaminated items like clothing or bedding. The version of clade II that spread in 2022 was passed primarily through sexual contact, particularly among men who have sex with men .”
This strain’s spread across several African countries prompted the World Health Organization to declare a global public health emergency in August, the second time for mpox in two years.
Mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, is a viral infection that causes painful lesions, often accompanied by flu-like symptoms. It is classified into two distinct groups: the more aggressive strain, clade I, and a somewhat milder strain, clade II.
Clade II was behind the global outbreak in 2022, which resulted in at least 32,000 infections and 58 deaths in the U.S.
Until recently, clade I had not spread beyond Central Africa, where it is considered endemic, and East Africa …
