Britain Reports Four New Mpox Cases
2024-11-10
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1British health officials say they have identified four cases of the new, highly infectious version of mpox that first appeared in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
2The announcement marks the first time the variant has caused a group of illnesses outside of Africa.
3Scientists said the risk to the public remains low.
4Officials announced the first case of the new form of mpox in Britain last week.
5Officials said the person who was being treated at a London hospital had recently travelled to countries in Africa with ongoing outbreaks.
6This week, the British Health Security Agency said it had now identified three additional cases.
7All of them lived in the same household as the first patient.
8The new cases are also being treated at a hospital in London.
9Susan Hopkins is chief medical advisor of the British Health Security Agency.
10She said, "Mpox is very infectious in households with close contact and so it is not unexpected to see further cases within the same household."
11The new variant of mpox was first reported earlier this year in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, or the DRC.
12Scientists believe it causes milder symptoms that are harder to notice.
13As a result, it might be easier to spread because people may not know they are infected.
14Its spread in the DRC and in other parts of Africa caused the World Health Organization to declare the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern in August.
15Britain recorded more than 3,000 cases of another version of mpox during a 2022 outbreak that affected more than 100 countries.
16The new variant of mpox has also caused outbreaks in Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda.
17Single cases in travelers have also been reported in Sweden, India, Germany and Thailand.
18To date, there have been about 43,000 suspect cases of mpox in Africa, including more than 1,000 deaths, mostly in the DRC.
19On Wednesday, the WHO said it had given about 900,000 vaccine doses to nine African countries struggling with mpox epidemics.
20I'm John Russell.
1British health officials say they have identified four cases of the new, highly infectious version of mpox that first appeared in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. 2The announcement marks the first time the variant has caused a group of illnesses outside of Africa. Scientists said the risk to the public remains low. 3Officials announced the first case of the new form of mpox in Britain last week. Officials said the person who was being treated at a London hospital had recently travelled to countries in Africa with ongoing outbreaks. 4This week, the British Health Security Agency said it had now identified three additional cases. All of them lived in the same household as the first patient. The new cases are also being treated at a hospital in London. 5Susan Hopkins is chief medical advisor of the British Health Security Agency. She said, "Mpox is very infectious in households with close contact and so it is not unexpected to see further cases within the same household." 6The new variant of mpox was first reported earlier this year in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, or the DRC. Scientists believe it causes milder symptoms that are harder to notice. As a result, it might be easier to spread because people may not know they are infected. Its spread in the DRC and in other parts of Africa caused the World Health Organization to declare the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern in August. 7Britain recorded more than 3,000 cases of another version of mpox during a 2022 outbreak that affected more than 100 countries. 8The new variant of mpox has also caused outbreaks in Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda. Single cases in travelers have also been reported in Sweden, India, Germany and Thailand. 9To date, there have been about 43,000 suspect cases of mpox in Africa, including more than 1,000 deaths, mostly in the DRC. 10On Wednesday, the WHO said it had given about 900,000 vaccine doses to nine African countries struggling with mpox epidemics. 11I'm John Russell. 12John Russell adapted this story from an Associated Press report. 13_____________________________________________ 14Words in This Story 15variant - n. something that is different in some way from others of the same kind 16symptom -n. a sign that disease might be present 17dose -n. the amount of a medicine that is needed to cure or treat a health problem