No cases of new mpox strain in Singapore but situation being monitored closely, say authorities

SINGAPORE – There have been no cases of a new mpox strain detected in Singapore, the authorities said, after the variant form of the MPXV – or mpox virus – was reported in Britain and India in recent months.

In response to queries, Associate Professor Lim Poh Lian, group director of the communicable diseases programme at the Communicable Diseases Agency (CDA), said: “Since the global mpox outbreak in 2022, all mpox cases detected in Singapore have been of MPXV clade 2b.”

The CDA is closely monitoring the new strain and its implications, including any changes in transmissibility and severity compared with known mpox virus strains, she added.

The agency, in its weekly infectious diseases bulletin, said there have been five reported mpox cases in Singapore so far in 2026.

All of them are infections linked to the MPXV clade 2b strain.

The new strain of the mpox virus was detected in India and Britain between September and December 2025.

British health authorities found a man in England with the new strain, and he had recently travelled to Asia, reported news agency AFP.

The patient in India, who developed symptoms in September 2025, was first classified as having been infected with mpox clade 2.

However, after updates to global genomic databases, the virus detected in the Indian patient was reclassified as the same recombinant strain that was identified in Britain, said the World Health Organization (WHO).

The Indian case is the earliest known detection of the new strain – the recombinant mpox virus – which comprises clade 1b and clade 2b.

Mpox – previously known as monkeypox – is a viral infection that is related to smallpox.

Symptoms include a skin rash, fever, headache, backache, swollen lymph nodes, muscle ache and a general feeling of exhaustion or extreme weakness.

The virus is mainly transmitted through intimate or prolonged physical contact, Prof Lim said. The risk to the general population is low, she added.

The public health measures put in place to monitor and prevent mpox infections – regardless of the strain – are still in place, she said. These include early detection, isolation and treatment of cases and contact tracing.

Prof Lim said: “We advise individuals to avoid high-risk sexual activities, such as engaging in casual sex or having multiple sex partners.”

Those who travel to countries affected by mpox should practise good hand hygiene, reduce physical contact with sick people and avoid consumption of bushmeat, she added.

They should also seek immediate medical attention if they develop symptoms such as fever or rash within 21 days of their return, and should inform their doctor of their travel and exposure history, she said.

Symptoms usually appear after an incubation period of between six and 13 days, but can take up to 21 days.

Mpox was declared a public health emergency by the WHO in August 2024, after an mpox epidemic broke out in the Democratic Republic of Congo and several other African countries.

The health emergency was lifted a month later, in September, after a sustained decline in cases and deaths.