Mpox: Disease Control
(asked on 4th December 2024) - View Source
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to monitor the rise in cases in the more spreadable variant of mpox now detected in the UK.
There are two distinct types of the mpox virus: clade I and clade II. The previous significant outbreak in the United Kingdom in 2022 was from clade II. Clade I is currently classified as a high consequence infectious disease. The risk to the UK population remains low. We expect to see the occasional imported case of Clade Ib mpox in the UK.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) continues to closely monitor mpox epidemiology and has well established surveillance systems to monitor the spread of mpox. This is supported by a robust contact tracing process that helps us to effectively contain any imported cases found in the UK.
The latest information about UK cases of mpox is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/ukhsa-detects-first-case-of-clade-ib-mpox
A full summary of the measures UKHSA is taking is summarised in the technical briefing, which is available at the following link:
This briefing will be reviewed and updated as more is understood about the disease.
UKHSA is engaged with international partners, including the World Health Organisation, European, US and Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, ensuring we receive updates about international cases in a timely fashion.