No cases of “clade Ia or Ib mpox” have ever been detected in Ireland, the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) said.
Cases of a milder strain IIb in Ireland remain low, with 17 reported so far this year. There were 13 cases of mpox confirmed in Ireland last year and 227 cases the year before.
“The type of mpox that is causing concern in Africa is caused by clade I mpox, both clade Ia and Ib. To date clade Ib has a lower case-fatality rate than clade Ia mpox,” a HSPC report said.
“This is different to clade IIb, which caused the global outbreak in 2022-2023, mainly affecting gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men.”
Mpox spreads through close contact, including with the skin rash of someone with the virus.
“People who closely interact with someone who is infectious are at greater risk for infection: this includes sexual partners, household members, and health and care workers,” it also said.
However, cases of the mutant strains have been detected outside of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the initial centre of concern, where over 25,000 cases of clade Ib and 1,000 deaths, mostly in children under 15, have been reported.
It has spread to Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda as well as Sweden, Thailand, Germany, India and the US.
The report said that as of November 22 Canada confirmed the first case of clade I mpox there.
This travel-related case is associated with the ongoing outbreak of clade I mpox in central and eastern Africa.
The public is being urged to follow public health advice particularly if travelling to or from a country in Africa where mpox cases are occurring.
Earlier this month, the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed the first case of clade I mpox in the United States.
The HPSC also said: “The first UK case had travelled to countries in Africa that are seeing community cases of clade Ib mpox. Three cases occurred in household contacts of the case; this was not unexpected as spread can occur among close household contacts.
“Sporadic imported cases of mpox may occur among travellers arriving from places where cases are regularly being reported in the community.”
It said the HSE was monitoring the situation in Ireland and abroad and it said the risk to the Irish public was low.
The public is being urged to follow public health advice particularly if travelling to or from a country in Africa where mpox cases are occurring.
“To protect yourself and others against mpox, know the signs and symptoms of mpox, how the virus spreads, what to do if you get sick, and the risk of mpox infection in the area that you are planning to travel to. Information on countries affected by mpox is available from the WHO,” the HPSC has said.
“Mpox needs close or intimate contact to spread, so casual contact like you might have during travel is not likely to cause infection.”
