Countries with confirmed cases of new mpox variant

Aug 16 (Reuters) - The World Health Organization declared mpox a global public health emergency for the second time in two years, following an outbreak of the viral infection in the Democratic Republic of Congo that has spread to neighbouring countries.

A new form of the virus, clade Ib, triggered global concern as it seems to be spreading quickly and little is known about the strain. The disease transmits through close contact.

The following are the countries that have reported cases of clade Ib mpox:

Two strains of mpox are spreading in the Democratic Republic of Congo - the endemic clade I and the new clade Ib, which spreads more easily through close contact, including sexual.

The current outbreak has seen 27,000 cases and more than 1,100 deaths since January 2023, largely among children.

Global health officials on August 15 confirmed an infection with a new strain of the mpox virus in Sweden, the first sign of its spread...
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