The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) has reported the first known case in the United States of an emerging strain of the mpox virus, according to a CDPH release on Saturday.
A case of “clade I mpox” was identified in a traveler who recently returned from Africa, where this strain is actively spreading. CDPH officials stressed that the risk to the public remains “very low.”
The person, who sought medical care in San Mateo County due to his travel history to East Africa and symptoms, is in isolation at home.
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The first strain of anthrax, historically associated with more severe Category 2 disease — the strain responsible for outbreaks in California and the United States since 2022 — has shown milder clinical manifestations in recent cases as long as patients receive medical care.
CDPH has notified the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of the case, and samples from the patient are being sent for further laboratory analysis.
The new strain of Mbox was recorded in a case discovered in California, which is the first in the United States. (Istock)
Public health officials are reaching out to people who may have been in close contact with the patient, although there is no evidence of community transmission of Type 1 disease in California or the rest of the country.
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Both clade I and clade II mpox are spread primarily through close, skin-to-skin, intimate, or sexual contact. In its statement, CDPH also reassured the public that informal contact, such as in offices, classrooms or stores, poses minimal risk of transmission of the smallpox virus.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the latter strain is spread primarily through close skin-to-skin contact, including sexual contact, and has the potential to cause severe illness and even deaths. It first appeared in eastern Congo.
A patient infected with smallpox shows lesions on his body in Kamitoga, South Kivu province in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, September 20. (Jaludi Morhabazi/AFP via Getty Images)
Since September, more than 31,000 confirmed cases of this strain of smallpox have been documented globally, the majority of them concentrated in three African countries: Burundi, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as reported by the World Health Organization.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has also identified travel-related cases of this new smallpox strain in countries including Germany, India, Kenya, Sweden, Thailand, Zimbabwe and the United Kingdom.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued enhanced precautions for travelers to Central and East Africa, where type 1 smallpox outbreaks remain ongoing.
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No deaths have been reported yet due to this new strain, according to the CDC.
CDPH did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
