Variant Empox has also been penetrated in France… “The spread is faster and the fatality rate is higher.”

A patient infected with the new variant of mpox, which is prevalent in Africa, has also emerged in France. The French Ministry of Health announced on the 6th (local time) that the first patient infected with Clade 1b Mpox emerged in western Brittany.

Empox is an acute fever-rash disease caused by a viral infection. It is spread to humans by infected animals, but can also be transmitted from human to human through close physical contact.

If you get Mpox, a vesicular rash with clear boundaries and a hollow center appears. Generally, it starts from a spot and progresses to papule → vesicle (blister) → pustule (pus) → crust (scab), accompanied by pain and itching. It may also be accompanied by a headache that makes it difficult to sleep at night.

Type 1b Mpox is of a different lineage from the virus (clade II) that spread worldwide in 2022. The rate of spread is faster and the fatality rate is higher. According to the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), since the outbreak began in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in early 2024, more than 69,000 suspected cases of Empox have occurred in 20 African countries, and nearly 1,300 people have died. The Democratic Republic of Congo was the most severe, with 39,000 cases and more than 1,000 deaths.

The World Health Organization (WHO) declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) in August last year related to type 1b Mpox, and renewed it in November as the number of spreading agents did not decrease. Among European countries, the first case was reported in Sweden in August, and since then, group 1b cases have been reported in Germany, the United Kingdom, and Belgium among people who recently traveled abroad or were in contact with their families.

For this reason, even though the highest level of alert was maintained, the first patient occurred in France. The French Health Ministry said that the patient “had not traveled to Central Africa, where several strains of the virus have been circulating for several months, but came into contact with two people who returned from Central Africa” ​​and “investigated to find the source of infection and identify all contacts.” “It is in progress,” he said.

Cases of type 1b Mpox infection have been reported in Canada, India, Thailand, and the United States, in addition to Africa and Europe. The World Health Organization (WHO) announced that various Empox strains, including type 1b, had been reported in 80 countries by the end of last year.