LONDON (AP) — British health officials say they have identified four cases of the new, more infectious version of mpox that first emerged in Congo, marking the first time the variant has caused a cluster of illness outside of Africa. Scientists said the risk to the public remains low.
Authorities announced the first case of the new form of mpox in the U.K. last week, saying the case was being treated at a London hospital after recently traveling to countries in Africa with ongoing outbreaks.
This week, the U.K. Health Security Agency said it had now identified three further cases who lived in the same household as the first patient. They too are now being treated at a hospital in London.
“Mpox is very infectious in households with close contact and so it is not unexpected to see further cases within the same household,” said Susan Hopkins, chief medical advisor of the U.K. Health Security Agency.
The new variant of mpox was first detected earlier this year in eastern Congo. Scientists believe it causes milder symptoms that are harder to notice, which makes it easier to spread because people may not know they are infected. Its spread in Congo and elsewhere in Africa prompted the World Health Organization to declare a global emergency in August.
Britain recorded more than 3,000 cases of another type of mpox during a 2022 outbreak that hit more than 100 countries.
The new variant of mpox has also caused outbreaks in Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda. Single cases in travelers have also been reported in Sweden, India, Germany and Thailand.
To date, there have been about 43,000 suspect cases of mpox in Africa, including more than 1,000 deaths, mostly in Congo.
On Wednesday, WHO said it had allocated 899,900 vaccine doses to nine African countries struggling with mpox epidemics.
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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
FILE - This colorized electron microscope image provided by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in 2024 shows Mpox virus particles, green, found within infected cultured cells, blue. The virus particles are in various stages of maturity, which accounts for differences in shape. (NIAID via AP, File)
LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — Record-high air pollution in Pakistan’s Punjab province prompted authorities to close additional schools and keep government employees at home Wednesday, as doctors reported an increase in people seeking treatment for smog-related ailments.
Marriyum Aurangzeb, a senior minister in the Punjab province, urged residents to voluntarily wear face masks and avoid unnecessary travel, and said that "otherwise, the government will be forced into a complete lockdown.”
Lahore, the provincial capital of 14 million people and Pakistan's cultural hub, remained the world’s most polluted city on Wednesday with Air Quality Index readings of over 1,100. Anything over 300 is considered hazardous to health.
Authorities earlier in the week shut down schools in Lahore. On Wednesday they closed schools in 18 surrounding districts. Aurangzeb said 50% of government employees in Lahore were told to work from home until next week.
The pollution has been sending patients to hospitals and private clinics complaining of coughs or burning eyes.
“Tens of thousands of patients suffering from respiratory diseases were treated at hospitals and clinics in a week,” said Salman Kazmi, vice president of the Pakistan Medical Association.
Kazmi said that you can see people coughing whereever you go in Lahore, but that people are still not wearing face masks to protect themselves from the pollution.
Authorities in the city already have banned barbecuing food without filters, as well as the use of motorized rickshaws — and wedding halls must close by 10 p.m.
The government said it was also looking into methods to induce artificial rainfall to combat the pollution.
Motorcyclists drive on a highway as smog envelops the areas of Lahore, Pakistan, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)
A motorcycle-rickshaw drives on a road as smog envelops the areas of Lahore, Pakistan, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)
A teacher and students wear mask to protect themselves from poor air quality due to increasing smog in the city as they attend their school, in Lahore, Pakistan, Monday, Nov. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)
A cyclist, wearing mask, heads to his workplace as smog envelops the areas of Lahore, Pakistan, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)
Students wear mask and heading to their school as smog envelops the areas of Lahore, Pakistan, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)
