First case of new strain of mpox in Brazil confirmed
The Brazilian Ministry of Health has confirmed the first case of mpox strain 1b infection in Brazil. The patient, a 29-year-old woman who lives in the metropolitan region of São Paulo, had contact with a relative who had been in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a country facing an outbreak of the disease.
The ministry said the case was confirmed through sequencing carried out in a laboratory to characterize the infectious agent. The full genome was obtained, which, the ministry reported, is very close to those of cases detected in other countries.
“No secondary cases have been identified as yet. The municipal surveillance team is keeping track of possible contacts,” the statement reads.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has been informed of the case and the ministry has requested that the epidemiological surveillance network be reinforced and the people who had contact with the patient be tracked down.
Emergency center
In response to the WHO’s declaration of a public health emergency of international importance due to mpox in August 2024, the ministry set up an Emergency Operations Center (COE) for the disease, which aims to centralize and coordinate efforts.
In 2024, Brazil recorded 2,052 cases of mpox. By the beginning of February, 115 cases of strains of the disease had been reported, but none of them so far were of the 1b strain. No deaths from mpox have been identified in the country over the last two years, and most patients are reported to have had mild or moderate symptoms.
The disease
Mpox has been considered an endemic disease in Central and West Africa since the 1970s. In December 2022, the Democratic Republic of Congo declared a national outbreak of mpox, due to the circulation of strain 1 of the virus.
Caused by the Monkeypox virus, the disease can spread between people and occasionally from the environment to people through objects and surfaces that have been touched by an infected patient. In regions where the virus is present among wild animals, the disease can also be transmitted to humans who come into contact with infected animals.
Mpox can cause a series of signs and symptoms. Although some people experience less serious symptoms, others can develop more serious conditions and require medical attention.
The most common symptom is a rash on the skin, similar to blisters or sores, which can last from two to four weeks.
