Two people in California have been infected with a potentially deadlier strain of Mpox acquired within the US.
The Los Angeles County Department of Health this week confirmed two unidentified residents in the county have tested positive for ‘Clade I’ Mpox, which kills up to one in 10 people it infects.
The individuals had not traveled outside of the US to high-risk areas like East Africa, meaning they acquired it locally. This is the first time Clade I has been acquired locally in the US.
The first case, reported Tuesday, involved a resident of nearby Long Beach, while the second, reported Thursday, was in a resident of Los Angeles County.
Both patients were hospitalized but are now recovering at home, health officials said. No further details have been released.
The Clade I strain is more severe than the Clade II type, which is currently circulating in the US and was behind the 2022 outbreak. Clade II has a fatality rate of less than three percent and has killed 63 Americans since the 2022 outbreak.
Clade I, which has a fatality rate of up to 10 percent, spreads more easily, ‘including through close personal contact,’ such as massages, cuddling and sex, health officials said.
There have been six cases of Clade I Mpox reported in the US among people who have traveled to areas associated with outbreaks in Central and East Africa, according to the CDC, including a California resident infected last November. The agency said none of those cases were linked to each other.
The above 2024 image shows a patient in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) infected with Mpox, formerly known as monkeypox
That California resident last year had a mild illness, officials in San Mateo County said at the time.
Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson said in a statement: ‘While the overall risk of … exposure to the public remains low, we are taking this very seriously.
‘This underscores the importance of continued surveillance, early response and vaccination.’
Cases of Clade I Mpox in Africa are not closely tracked, but the most recent estimates from the CDC in late 2024 have counted nearly 40,000 suspected cases in the Central and East Africa, namely in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
Formerly known as monkeypox, Mpox spreads through close, intimate contact such as through bodily fluids, sores, sharing bedding or clothing, kissing, sex, coughing or sneezing.
Symptoms ‘include rash or unusual sores that look like pimples or pus-filled blisters on the face, body and genitals, fever, chills, headache, muscle aches or swelling of lymph nodes,’ the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health said.
The Long Beach Department of Health and Human Services advised avoiding sex and intimate contact and seek immediate medical help if individuals develop ‘an unexplained rash or lesions.’
The above file image shows Mpox particles in red within an infected cell (blue)
In the DRC, CDC officials said transmission has been from ‘contact with infected dead or live wild animals’ and ‘household contact often involving crowded households,’ along with sexual contact.
Most patients recover on their own, though antiviral treatments ‘may be considered for individuals with or at risk of developing severe illness,’ the Long Beach Department of Health and Human Services said.
Anyone in the US who suspects they have been exposed to Mpox in the last 14 days or has certain sexual risk factors, such as gay or bisexual men, can receive two doses of the JYNNEOS vaccine to prevent infection.
People with HIV or who are immunocompromised are also eligible.
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