Mpox warning: UK doctors put on alert over spread of new variant

Following the emergence of the confirmed case, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control was forced to raise its risk level.

In addition, the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared a global health emergency – its highest alert.

The new strain, ‘Clade 1b’ is a “more severe” strain of the virus which sparked panic in 2022.

Officials also said it had a “higher mortality” rate.

However, Britons should take comfort as the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has said no cases have yet been detected and the risk to the population is “low”.

An NHS England spokesman said the health service is “prepared to respond” if the strain emerges in the country.

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GPs and hospitals have been given access to rapid testing and have been told to isolate individuals found with any of the symptoms.

In addition, the Government is believed to have enough vaccines and treatments to deal with an outbreak if it came to Britain’s shores.

Confirming the appearance of the strain in Sweden, Health and Social Affairs Minister Jakob Forssmed told a news conference in Stockholm: “We have now also during the afternoon had confirmation that we have one case in Sweden of the more grave type of Mpox, the one called Clade I.”

Dr Chris Smith explained that Mpox outbreaks can “grow quickly”.

He told GB News’ Martin Daubney last week: “One of the criticisms that emerged during the Covid pandemic, levelled at countries worldwide is we were slow off the mark.

“I think what the WHO are trying to do is make sure we are one step ahead. We know prevention is better than cure.

“If we do little or nothing and we wait until we have cases, it’s much harder to deal with this sort of thing and to put people on notice.

“This may be coming, we have to prepare and make sure we are vigilant. If we see a patient come into a hospital who has a travel history to an affected geography, it means people are likely to take it more seriously.

“Remember the R value of Covid. The R value for this virus is about two to three. That means two to three people will be infected for each person, that means outbreaks will grow quite quickly.

“Being on our guard, being vigilant and galvanising the world to respond will help to deal with the problem at source and minimise the risk to us here.”