Thailand confirmed on Thursday (22) that a case of mpox recently identified in the country belongs to the 1b strain of the virus, being only the second case of this variant confirmed outside Africa. The patient is a 66-year-old European man who arrived in Thailand last week after having been in an undisclosed African country where the disease was spreading.
According to Thongchai Keeratihattayakorn, director-general of Thailand’s Department of Disease Control, tests showed he was infected with the Clade 1b strain of monkeypox. This is the first case of this variant detected in Thailand, but the infection is believed to have occurred in an endemic country.
Contact tracing has so far not identified any other local infections. The 1b strain has raised concerns worldwide because of its ease of spreading through close contact. Last week, Sweden also confirmed a case of the same variant linked to a growing outbreak in Africa, signaling the virus is spreading beyond the continent.
The World Health Organization has declared the recent outbreak of the disease a public health emergency of international concern after the identification of the new variant. The patient had been in an unnamed Middle Eastern country before traveling to Thailand.
Thailand has detected 800 cases of Clade 2 mpox since 2022, but has not yet reported any cases of the Clade 1 or Clade 1b variants. Although mpox has been known for decades, the more deadly and transmissible 1b strain has been responsible for the recent surge in cases. This subtype causes death in about 3.6% of cases, with the highest risk in children, according to the WHO.
Thongchai Keeratihattayakorn stressed that despite the severity of the new strain, the likelihood of rapid spread of mpox is significantly lower than that of Covid-19, due to the need for close contact for transmission.
Source: https://www.ocafezinho.com/2024/08/22/mpox-tipo-1b-avanca-e-atinge-tailandia-segundo-caso-fora-da-africa/
