China today confirmed the first case of the new clade Ib variant of monkeypox, which can be traced back to a foreign national with a history of travel and residence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
According to the Asian country's Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the cities of Beijing and Tianjin (north) and the provinces of Guangdong (southeast) and Zhejiang (east) have activated a joint prevention and control mechanism for the epidemiological tracking, finding four more cases in infected people, after close contact with the outside world.
"They have symptoms such as rashes and shingles, which are relatively mild. Infected people are receiving medical treatment and being observed. The epidemic is being effectively controlled," the center said in a brief statement.
On the 14th, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared an international health emergency due to the spread of monkeypox, especially in Africa, where thousands of infections and hundreds of deaths have been recorded.
Just two days later, Chinese authorities announced a six-month increase in surveillance measures at their borders to prevent the entry of the virus, requiring all planes and ships from areas affected by the disease to comply with sanitary measures.
The checks focus on detecting symptoms such as fever, headaches and rashes in travelers. Thorough health inspections are also carried out on vehicles, containers and goods coming from the affected areas.
Chinese authorities last summer authorized the marketing of the first domestically developed test kit to detect the virus. China is also developing a vaccine against the disease, which is already in the clinical research phase.
Sweden confirmed the first case of the clade 1b variant outside Africa on August 15. Thailand confirmed the first case in Asia on August 22.
The WHO's alarm last summer centered on the rapid spread and high mortality in Africa of this new variant (clade Ib), of which several cases have been identified outside the continent in people who have traveled to parts of Africa.
This variant differs from clade II, which caused a violent outbreak in Africa in 2022, as well as hundreds of cases in Europe, North America and countries in other regions, and which has already led to the declaration of an international health emergency between 2022 and 2023.
Mpox is an infectious disease that can cause a painful rash, swollen lymph nodes, fever, headaches, muscle aches, back pain, and lack of energy.
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