LONDON (dpa-AFX) - Two additional cases of Clade Ib mpox have been detected in the United Kingdom.
The new cases are household contacts of a person who was diagnosed with the disease last week, the UK Health Security Agency has confirmed.
This brings the total number of confirmed cases to 3 in the U.K.
The two new patients are currently under specialist care at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust in London.
The risk to the UK population remains low, according to UKSHA.
Professor Susan Hopkins, Chief Medical Adviser at UKHSA, said: 'We are working with partners to make sure all contacts of the cases are identified and contacted to reduce the risk of further spread.'
The United Kingdom had reported its first human case of Clade Ib mpox, a new strain that is being widespread in Africa, on October 30.
The existing evidence suggests mpox Clade Ib causes more severe disease than Clade II, which has been circulating at low levels in the UK since 2022, primarily among gay, bisexual and other men-who-have-sex-with-men, or GBMSM.
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