DHSC & UKHSA ASC Mpox Updates

You may have already received an email from UKHSA announcing the first detection of a single confirmed case of Clade Ib mpox in the UK but I am sharing the key points from this here, in case it didn’t reach you. The full press release was published this afternoon and can be found here: UKHSA detects first case of Clade Ib mpox - GOV.UK

The key points from this announcement we would like to draw your attention to are:

• The risk to the UK population remains low

• The case was detected in London and the individual has been transferred to the Royal Free Hospital High Consequence Infectious Diseases unit.

• They had recently travelled to countries in Africa that are seeing community cases of Clade I mpox. No further details will be disclosed about the individual.

• Close contacts are being follow up. Any contacts will be offered testing and vaccination as needed. They will be advised on further care if they have symptoms or test positive.

• We are working closely with NHS colleagues and academic partners to determine the characteristics of the pathogen and further assess the risk to human health.

• While the existing evidence suggests mpox Clade I causes more severe disease than Clade II, we will continue to monitor and learn more about the severity, transmission and control measures.

• We will initially manage Clade I as a high consequence infectious disease (HCID) whilst we are learning more about the virus.

We will share further information with you as soon as we have it. In the meantime, we understand this announcement may elicit questions so please don’t hesitate to get in touch.