Mpox hits man in Thailand, second case outside Africa

Health officials in Thailand have confirmed a case of the new — and potentially deadlier — strain of mpox.

It’s the second known case outside Africa, where the strain known as clade 1b is ripping through the Democratic Republic of Congo and is responsible for more than 450 deaths.

Sweden last week reported a case in someone who traveled to affected areas of Africa.

The Thailand case was in a 66-year-old man from Germany who arrived in the Southeast Asian nation on Aug. 14 after visiting an unidentified country in Africa. He had a fever and showed symptoms consistent with mpox, Thailand’s Department of Disease Control said.

Disease trackers contacted 43 people who might have interacted with the man, including on his plane and upon his arrival. They will be monitored for three weeks.

Likewise, Thai officials said people returning from the DRC and surrounding African countries should monitor themselves for symptoms for 21 days and seek medical attention if they experience fever, rash or swollen lymph nodes.

The World Health Organization recently declared the African outbreak of mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, as a public health emergency of international concern.

The strain can be spread through close contact — often in cramped conditions or households — and differs from the clade II that caused a 2022 global outbreak and was mainly spread through sexual contact.

The previous outbreak was controlled through vaccination and a public awareness campaign that urged changes in sexual behavior.

A WHO official recently told reporters that despite fears about the new strain, mpox is “not the new COVID” and can be contained.

“Are we going to go in lockdown in the WHO European region — it’s another COVID-19? The answer is clearly ‘No,’” Dr. Hans Kluge said. “We can, and must, tackle mpox together — across regions and continents.”

Global health officials are rushing millions of vaccines to Africa to try and slow the outbreak.

Following the Sweden case, officials said they expect new cases to appear in Europe but that the risk of rapid spread remains low.