Mpox epidemic: a “first human case” of the new clade 1b variant has just been detected in France

A first case of the new variant of mpox has been identified in France, the Ministry of Health told AFP on Monday evening.

The ministry has been informed “of a first human case of mpox clade 1b on the national territory, in Brittany. The recommended management measures have been put in place”, the press release details.

Four European countries concerned

“The reported case concerns a person who has not travelled to Central Africa, an area in which the different clades of mpox viruses have been actively circulating for several months, including clade 1b”, the press release states.

This person, a woman, “has however been in contact with two people returning from Central Africa, investigations are underway to find the origin of the contamination and identify all the contact persons”, it adds.

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The ministry recalls that four countries in the European Economic Area (EEA) have recorded cases of clade 1b mpox since this summer: Sweden, Germany, the United Kingdom and the Belgium.

The risk of infection by Monkeypox clade I for the general population in France and Europe is considered low by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), the press release further notes.

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Two epidemics underway in Africa

According to the regional daily newspaper Ouest-France, the woman who tested positive for mpox clade 1b lives in Brittany, in western France, and was diagnosed at the Rennes hospital. She is doing well according to our colleagues.

MPOX is characterized by skin lesions, such as pustules, high fever and muscle pain.

First identified in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in 1970, the disease remained confined to around ten African countries for a long time. But in 2022, it began to spread to the rest of the world, including developed countries where the virus had never circulated.

Two concurrent epidemics are raging, one caused by clade 1 in Central Africa, mainly affecting children, and another by the new variant, clade 1b, which is affecting adults in another region, in eastern DRC, and in neighboring countries.