New case of mpox variant clade Ib detected in England

London: Britain's health security agency (UKHSA) said on Friday another case of the new mpox variant clade Ib has been detected in England, the fifth case confirmed in the country in recent weeks.

The government agency said the risk to the population remained low. The clade Ib variant is a new form of the virus that is linked to a global health emergency declared by the World Health Organization in August.

The case was detected in Leeds and the individual is now under specialist care, UKHSA said, adding the patient had recently returned from Uganda, which is seeing community transmission of the variant.

This case has no links to previous cases identified that were all from the same household. They have all now fully recovered, UKHSA said. (Reporting by Catarina Demony; Editing by Elizabeth Piper)