Guernsey health chiefs ‘closely monitoring’ mpox

Guernsey’s health chiefs say they are “closely monitoring” the global situation after a case of a more dangerous strain of mpox was confirmed outside Africa.

A case of the new variant, Clade Ib, was confirmed in Sweden last week and linked to a growing outbreak in Africa.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the mpox outbreaks in parts of Africa a public health emergency of international concern.

Director of Public Health Dr Nicola Brink said a “multi-disciplinary team” would meet to discuss the outbreak this week.

‘Under review’

At least 450 people died during an initial outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the disease has since spread to areas of Central and East Africa.

Mpox, which was previously known as monkeypox, is transmitted through close contact, such as sex, skin-to-skin contact and talking or breathing close to another person.

It causes flu-like symptoms and skin lesions and can be fatal, with four in 100 cases leading to death.

Dr Brink said: “We are monitoring the global situation closely and are keeping it under review.”