'Very likely' someone in UK already has new deadlier mpox variant
manchestereveningnews.co.ukIt's already 'very likely' someone in the UK has contracted the new deadlier variant of monkeypox, an expert has warned. Another two countries outside Africa have recorded cases of the viral diseaseafter an outbreak of a newer strain emerged.
Clade 1 first started spreading through African countries in 2022. The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) earlier this year said that it was facing the world's largest ever outbreak after tens of thousands of infections were recorded.
This week the World Health Organisation declared the outbreak to be a global health emergency. READ MORE: 'I don't believe it...' - Shocked neighbours pay tribute to man who died at home in suspected arson attack And speaking to Sky News, infectious diseases expert Prof Paul hunter said it was 'very likely' someone in the UK had already been infected with the new variant.
He said: "When someone gets an infection it typically takes several days before they develop the classic appearance that would make people think 'oh, this is mpox'. "Then it can take longer before the samples are taken and sent to the lab, it's identified as mpox and sent for sequencing so we know which clade of mpox it is." Mpox mostly spreads via close contact with infected people, including through sex.
Read more on manchestereveningnews.co.uk