A new strain of monkeypox has been detected in the US, prompting alarm among health officials.
The New York State Department of Health confirmed Tuesday that it had detected a case of clade Ib monkeypox, which also causes a rash on the hands, feet, chest face, mouth and/or genitals.
It is related to the more deadly clade I monkeypox, which kills three to 11 percent of patients it infects, but so far studies suggest that this strain has a fatality rate of less than one percent and causes a relatively mild illness.
It is the fourth case to be detected in the US since November 15, after infections were also detected in California, Georgia and New Hampshire.
New York state gave no further details on its case, but all the other cases were detected in patients who recently returned to the US from abroad.
There was no evidence of onward transmission, and officials said that the cases do not appear to be linked.
In California, the patient was described as having a ‘relatively mild’ illness and was isolated at home. In New Hampshire, the patient was also isolated at home.
Pictured: A file photo of rashes caused by monkeypox
The above map shows the states that have detected cases of clade Ib monkeypox
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The US has been battling an outbreak of clade II monkeypox since 2022, which has so far sickened more than 34,000 people and led to 58 deaths.
So far this year, 39 people have been diagnosed with monkeypox.
But there are concerns that Clade I, which is deadlier, could also spread from central Africa to the US. Clade Ib is a less severe version of this type.
Monkeypox, or Mpox, is a viral infection that is transmitted via direct contact with sores or rashes on a patient, which often appear around the genital area.
Symptoms develop three to 17 days after infection, with signs including a fever, chills and a headache before the rash appears.
Patients are treated with Tecovirimat, or TPOXX, an antiviral that works by stopping the monkeypox virus from making copies of itself.
In severe cases, patients may have larger and more widespread rashes and lesions, especially on the mouth, eyes and genital areas.
They may also start to suffer from secondary bacterial infections of the skin, blood or lungs, which can lead to encephalitis — swelling of the brain — and pneumonia.
To prevent infections, the US recommends avoiding direct skin-to-skin contact with people who have a rash that looks like monkeypox.
People are also advised ot to use objects or materials that am onkeypox patient has used, and to wash hands after learning of monkeypox exposure during sex.
In 2022, the US also initiated a mass roll out of the JYNNEOS vaccine mostly to gay or bisexual men who had more than one sexual partner — which it said were at higher risk of infection.
In August last year, the World Health Organization declared that Clade I monkeypox was a global public health emergency.
Officials said an outbreak of the virus in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and its neighboring countries posed ‘international concern’ – the WHO’s highest level of alert.
The hope is to speed up research and roll out vaccines to contain the virus, which is more infectious and several times deadlier than the one that caused the global outbreak in 2022.
