A strain of mpox previously undetected in the US has been found in California, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

California Department of Health confirmed the case through laboratory tests. The patient contracted it after traveling from East Africa, where an outbreak of the Clade I strain had occurred. The person was treated in San Mateo County and then released. The person is recovering at home, the CDC said Saturday.

The CDC says the strain poses a low risk to the general public. “Casual contact, such as you might have while traveling, is unlikely to pose a significant risk for mpox transmission,” it said.

The agency advises people to avoid close contact with infected people and surfaces and objects they may have come into contact with, such as clothing, bedding and toothbrushes. Those who are eligible they should also be vaccinated, he said.

Earlier this year, the World Health Organization declared mpox a public health emergency of international concern.

It is a disease that is zoonotic, or caused by animals; and endemic, or regularly occurring, in Central and West Africa. It was formerly known as monkey pox, but it was shortened by the WHO, critics said, the name plays into racist stereotypes and prematurely suggests that monkeys are the main carriers of the disease.

There are two types of mpox, clade I and clade II. They are indistinguishable by their appearance, but Clade I diagnoses were usually more deadly and severe. However, its effects have been less severe in the current Clade I outbreak in Central and East Africa, according to the CDC.

Mpox causes a rash that can appear on the hands, feet, chest, face or genitals. Symptoms can take 3 to 17 days to appear.

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