First US case of severe form of mpox reported in California

SAN FRANCISCO - A person in California has tested positive for a form of mpox causing a widespread epidemic in Africa, the state’s Department of Public Health reported on Nov 16. It is the first known case in the United States.

The individual, who was not identified, had recently returned from East Africa.

The patient was diagnosed in San Mateo County, just south of San Francisco, and was isolating at home.

Officials at the California Department of Public Health and at the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are reaching out to potential contacts of the patient for further testing.

There is no evidence that this version of the mpox virus, called Clade Ib, is circulating in the US, CDC officials said.

Infections in people returning from Africa, however, have been found in Germany, Sweden, Thailand and Britain, among other countries.

A case in India was reported in a person returning from the United Arab Emirates. In Britain, the infected individual passed mpox to three household contacts.

“The anticipated overall risk of Clade I mpox to the general population in the United States from the outbreak in Central and Eastern Africa is low,” the CDC said in a statement on Nov 16.

There are two main types of mpox, formerly monkeypox: Clade I and Clade II.

A subtype of Clade II caused a global epidemic in 2022, mostly among gay and bisexual men, affecting nearly 100,000 people in 116 countries. About 200 people died.

That virus continues to circulate in the US, but now at lower levels.

More recently the Clade Ib subtype has caused enormous misery in Congo. There have been more than 57,000 confirmed or suspected cases since January and nearly 1,200 deaths. NYTIMES