WHO Declares Mpox a Global Health Emergency

Thailand has confirmed its first case of the new, deadlier Clade 1b strain of mpox in a 66-year-old European man who arrived from Africa, marking Asia's first known case of this variant. This development follows Sweden's report of the same strain, making Thailand the second country outside Africa to identify Clade 1b, which has a fatality rate of about 3.6%. The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared a global public health emergency due to the rapid spread of this variant, urging increased vaccine production. Mpox Clade 1b has been primarily spreading in African countries like the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda, with over 1,000 cases reported in Congo alone last week. Thai health officials are monitoring 43 close contacts of the infected patient, with a mandatory 21-day observation period. The virus, which causes fever, muscle aches, and large skin lesions, spreads through close physical contact and is less transmissible than COVID-19 or measles.