LONDON – British health officials say they have identified four cases new, more infectious version of mpox which first appeared in Congomarking the first time the variant has caused a cluster of diseases outside of Africa. Scientists said the risk to the public remains low.

The authorities announced the first case of the new form of mpox in Britain last week, saying the case was being treated in a London hospital after he had recently traveled to countries in Africa with ongoing outbreak.

This week, Britain’s Health Safety Agency said it had now identified three other cases who lived in the same household as the first patient. They too are now being treated at a London hospital.

“Mpox is highly infectious in households with close contact, so it is not unexpected to see other cases in the same household,” said Susan Hopkins, chief medical adviser to the UK’s Health Security Agency.

The new mpox variant was first detected earlier this year in eastern Congo. Scientists believe it causes milder symptoms that are harder to see, making it easier to spread because people may not know they are infected. Its spread in the Congo and other parts of Africa has led the World Health Organization to declare a global emergency in August.

Britain recorded more than 3,000 cases of another type of mpox during a outbreak since 2022 which hit over 100 countries.

The new variant of mpox has also caused outbreaks in Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda. Single cases in travelers have also been reported in Sweden, India, Germany and Thailand.

To date, there have been approximately 43,000 suspected cases of mpox in Africa, including more than 1,000 deaths, mostly in the Congo.

On Wednesday, the WHO said it had allocated 899,900 doses of the vaccine to nine African countries battling mpox epidemics.

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