A first case of the new mpox variant has been identified in France, according to the Ministry of Health, which confirmed yesterday evening information from the daily Ouest-France. This first human case of clade 1b mpox on national territory was recorded in Brittany. “The reported case concerns a person who has not traveled to Central Africa, an area in which the different clades of mpox viruses have been actively circulating for several months, including clade 1b”specifies the ministry, but this person was however in contact with two people returning from Central Africa.
Investigations are underway to find the origin of the contamination and identify all contact persons.”
Four countries in the European Economic Area (EEA) have reported cases of clade 1b mpox since this summer: Sweden, Germany, the United Kingdom and Belgium. The risk of Monkeypox clade I infection for the general population in France and Europe is considered low by the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control.
The woman tested positive “is said to be doing well”
“Sporadic cases, linked to countries with more intense viral circulation, may occur. The occurrence of this case in France was quickly detected thanks to the surveillance system in place”. According to Ouest-France, the woman who tested positive for mpox clade 1b lives in Brittany and was diagnosed at Rennes University Hospital. She would be “doing well”.
Mpox is characterized by skin lesions, such as pustules, high fever and muscle pain.
For two years, the disease has spread across the world
Identified for the first time in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in 1970, the disease remained confined to around ten African countries for a long time. But in 2022, it began to spread to the rest of the world, particularly developed countries where the virus had never circulated. Two concurrent epidemics are occurring, one caused by clade 1 in Central Africa, mainly affecting children, and another by the new variant, clade 1b, which affects adults in another region, in eastern DRC. , and in neighboring countries.
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