Map: New MPOX cases reported. Which countries are they currently in? | Health News

Two new cases of lineage 1b strains have been reported in Uganda. mpox virus.

The health ministry said one of the patients was a truck driver and both were in isolation at a hospital in Entebbe, about an hour south of the capital.

As mpox spreads, concerns are growing about confirmed cases of 1b, a new and potentially more deadly variant.

Where is mpox spreading?

A total of 18 cases have been reported in Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire, Kenya, Liberia, Mozambique, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Republic of Congo, Rwanda, South Africa, Sweden, Thailand and Uganda.

of World Health Organization The WHO has declared the virus a “Public Health Emergency of International Concern” and MPOX hasNot a new COVID” “.

This is the second emergency alert the World Health Organization has issued related to MPOX in two years.

The current outbreak is being caused by clade 1, which is thought to be a more severe variant that can spread through skin-to-skin contact.

Mpox has been identified in Africa since 2022 and was initially Democratic Republic of the Congo (Democratic Republic of the Congo).

In 2023, a new strain of clade 1, clade 1b, was discovered in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

A separate, but smaller, outbreak caused by the earlier lineage 2 variant of the virus has also been growing, with infections reported in more than 100 countries by last month.

Lineage 2 is thought to cause a milder infection, with a mortality rate of 0.2% compared to 3.9% for lineage 1.

The following areas saw the spread of MPOX disease between January and August this year:

Africa

According to data from the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) and the governments of Kenya, Mozambique, Uganda and Côte d'Ivoire, the MPOX lineage 1 variant has been detected in the following countries this year:

• Burundi (8 cases, 0 deaths)
• Cameroon (35, 2)
• Central African Republic (213, zero)
• Ivory Coast (28, 1)
• Republic of the Congo (146, 1)
• Democratic Republic of the Congo (13,791, 450)
• Ghana (4, 0)
• Liberia (5, 0)
• Nigeria (24, zero)
• Rwanda (2, 0)
• South Africa (22, 3)
• Uganda (4, zero)
• Kenya (1, 0)
• Mozambique (1, 0)

In the Democratic Republic of Congo, thousands of people were infected as of August 21, making it the largest outbreak on record. December 2022.

According to the Africa CDC, nearly all (96%) of the reported cases across Africa are in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with children under the age of 15 accounting for 60% of cases.

The new lineage 1b strain has been detected in the Democratic Republic of Congo's neighbours, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda, although no cases had previously been reported in these countries since the outbreak began in 2022.

To date, 541 deaths have been recorded in MPOX, of which 535 are in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (97%). Africa CDC Deaths were not broken down by strain.

In Côte d'Ivoire, the current outbreak is linked to the 2022 lineage 2 variant, authorities say.

Asia

New MPOX cases were reported this month in the Philippines, Thailand and Pakistan.

The Thai authorities New cases of lineage 1b The first cases of the new virus were confirmed in Asia on Thursday.

The individual has been identified as a 66-year-old European man who reportedly returned from an unnamed African country currently experiencing a “large-scale” outbreak of the lineage 1 variant.

He is said to have no serious symptoms and is believed to have passed through the Middle Eastern country on his way to Thailand.

Philippine authorities announced that the country's latest case, a 33-year-old Filipino man with no travel history, was identified as having the milder lineage 2 variant.

The patient is the 10th confirmed case in the country since 2022, and officials say MPOX has likely been spreading silently for some time.

Pakistani authorities said the first case reported this year was a man infected with clade 2.

But authorities said last week they were tracing the patient, who is believed to have traveled to another state before the test results were released.

Europe

• Sweden (1 infected, 0 deaths)

Sweden reported an MPOX case on August 15, which was confirmed to be the more severe Clade 1 variant.

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control said it was “very likely” that Europe would record more lineage 1 cases due to frequent air travel between Europe and Africa.

But sustained transmission in Europe could be low if cases are diagnosed quickly and testing, surveillance and contact tracing are carried out, the agency said. The European Union has ruled out closing borders with hard-hit countries.

Americas, Middle East, Oceania, Antarctica

No new clade 1 cases have been reported so far in North or South America.

However, the Pan American Health Organization said on August 9 that people should be “vigilant” about the possibility of lineage 1 and lineage 2 cases.

More than 62,000 cases of clade 2 virus were reported in the region between 2022 and July 2024, including 141 deaths.

No clade 1 cases have been identified in Oceania or the Middle East.