LONDON — British health officials say they have identified four cases new, more contagious version of mpox appearing for the first time CongoThis marks the first time the variant has caused a cluster of the disease outside of Africa. Scientists said the risk to the public remains low.

Authorities announced the first case of the new form mpox It was said last week that the case in England was being treated in a London hospital after traveling to countries around the country. Africa with ongoing epidemics.

This week the UK Health Safety Agency said three more cases had been identified living in the same household as the first patient. They are also currently receiving treatment in a hospital in London.

“Mpox is highly contagious in close-contact households and so it is not unexpected for additional cases to occur in the same household,” said Susan Hopkins, chief medical adviser at the UK Health Security Agency.

The new variant of Mpox was first detected in Eastern Congo earlier this year. Scientists believe this causes milder symptoms that are harder to notice; This makes it easier for it to spread as people may not know they are infected. Its spread in Congo and elsewhere in Africa prompted the World Health Organization to issue a statement. global emergency in August.

More than 3,000 cases of other types of mpox were recorded in the UK over a period of time. 2022 pandemic It hit more than 100 countries.

The new variant of Mpox also caused outbreaks in Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda. Single cases in travelers have also been reported in Sweden, India, Germany and Thailand.

To date, there have been approximately 43,000 suspected cases of mpox in Africa; among them there were more than 1,000 deaths, most of them in the Congo.

On Wednesday, the WHO said it had allocated 899,900 vaccine doses to nine African countries fighting the mpox epidemic.

__

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Education Media Group. AP is solely responsible for all content.