The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) has confirmed the country’s first case of clade I mpox. The case is linked to travel which involves an individual associated with an ongoing outbreak of clade I mpox in central and eastern Africa.

PHAC in a statement said that the individual sought medical care for mpox symptoms in Canada shortly after returning and is currently isolating. A public health investigation, including contact tracing, is underway, according to PHAC.

The agency added, “PHAC is working closely with public health authorities in Manitoba. The National Microbiology Laboratory (NML) notified the province on November 22 that the sample tested positive for mpox clade Ib.”

While clade II monkeypox has been present in Canada since 2022, this marks the first confirmed case of clade I mpox in the country. PHAC emphasised that the risk to the general population remains low at this time.

Mpox, earlier known as monkeypox, is a viral disease that’s caused by the monkeypox virus. It is a zoonotic disease and was first discovered in monkeys. Hence, it was named monkeypox. Mpox usually causes painful rash, enlarged lymph nodes and fever. While most people recover from the condition, some people might get very sick.

The virus spreads from person to person through touch, kissing or sex. However, from animals, it usually spreads when hunting, skinning, or cooking them. It can also spread from contaminated sheets, clothes or needles and from infected pregnant mothers to their unborn babies.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) declared mpox a global public health emergency for the second time in two years in August after a new variant of the virus, called clade Ib. This strain spread from the Democratic Republic of Congo to neighbouring countries.

There are two strains of mpox; Clade I and Clade II. Experts say that the Clade I type of mpox virus has a fatality rate of around 10%. Infections in the 2022–2023 outbreak were from Clade II, or more specifically, Clade IIb. Infections with Clade IIb are rarely fatal. More than 99% of people who get this form of the disease are likely to survive.

However, the Clade I infection can be deadly. Clade I mpox is causing an ongoing outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and several other African countries.

In September, India reported the first case of Mpox Clade 1b strain in Kerala’s Malappuram. According to reports, the patient was a 38-year-old man who had travelled recently from the United Arab Emirates.

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