First case of new Mpox variant in France

The first case of Mpox clade 1b, the new variant of the virus that has been spreading in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) since late 2023, has been reported in France. The report comes from the north-western region of Brittany, from a hospital in the city of Rennes, where the patient tested positive for the new virus variant. According to a note from the French Ministry of Health, the virus was contracted by a woman who had not been to Central Africa, but who had been in contact with people who recently returned from the regions of the continent affected by the Mpox epidemic. If confirmed, this would be the first case of autochthonous Mpox in France. The French Ministry added that it had already implemented the preventive measures laid down in health protocols and was working to trace the source of the infection and identify all possible contacts. The clade 1b variant is the result of a recent mutation in the most virulent and dangerous strain of the Mpox virus, as it causes more severe symptoms and is associated with a higher mortality rate. The mutation would have given the virus a high capacity for human-to-human transmission, justifying the rapid increase in human cases in Central and West Africa. The discovery was confirmed by a study published in April 2024 in the scientific journal Nature.