The UK Health Security Agency has identified a new hybrid mpox strain in England in a person who recently traveled to Asia.
Genomic sequencing shows the strain is “recombinant,” combining elements of clade Ib and clade IIb — both currently circulating — indicating ongoing viral evolution. Officials are still assessing its significance, according to the BBC.
“Our genomic testing has enabled us to detect this new mpox strain. It’s normal for viruses to evolve, and further analysis will help us understand more about how mpox is changing,” said Dr. Katy Sinka, head of the Sexually Transmitted Infections division at UKHSA.
Sinka added, “Although mpox infection is mild for many, it can be severe. Getting vaccinated is a proven effective way to protect yourself against severe disease, so please make sure to get the jab if you are eligible.”
Mpox spreads through close physical contact, respiratory droplets, and touching contaminated clothing, bedding, or towels. Symptoms include lesions or a skin rash lasting two to four weeks, along with fever, headaches, back pain, muscle aches, and fatigue.
The CDC notes that clade I mpox — the more lethal form, with a death rate of 1.4% to 10% — is primarily found in Central and Eastern Africa.
Clade I includes two subclades: Ia, found mostly in Central Africa and often affecting children through contact with infected animals or people; and Ib, identified in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, which has spread mainly through intimate adult sexual contact.
The Ib strain has now appeared in several countries where it is not typically found, including the United States, where at least three cases in Southern California involved people with no travel history to Africa and no known links to one another.
Last week, the World Health Organization reported 43 cases of clade Ib mpox in countries where the virus is not usually found, involving people with no recent travel to endemic regions — a sign of community spread.
Twenty-two of the cases involved men who have sex with men; the rest were linked to travel or household transmission.
The WHO reports that clade Ib poses a moderate public health risk for men who have sex with men and a low risk for the general population.
Clade IIb — which has a death rate of 1% to 4% — has been responsible for more than 114,000 infections and 220 deaths worldwide since 2022. Early in the outbreak, it spread widely among men who have sex with men attending LGBTQ festivals, leather and BDSM events, and bathhouses.
Its spread slowed as sexual behavior shifted — including periods of abstinence — leading to a sharp global decline in cases. Still, the virus continues to circulate, with about 9,000 clade II infections reported in 2024.
The JYNNEOS vaccine — a two-dose immunization approved to prevent smallpox and mpox — remains the only vaccine used to curb the virus’s spread.
Experts estimate the vaccine is 75% to 80% effective against both clade I and clade II. While the new recombinant strain has not been studied, officials expect a high degree of protection.
Dr. Boghuma Titanji, an assistant professor of medicine at Emory University, told the BBC the new strain reflects what experts feared could happen as mpox continued to circulate globally amid uneven vaccination rates.
“The more mpox circulation we permit, the more opportunities the virus has to recombine and adapt, further entrenching mpox virus as a human pathogen that is not going away,” she said.
The CDC’s website, last updated December 5, does not mention the new recombinant strain.
A UKHSA report from October says the spread of clade I mpox “is likely to be controlled to some degree” by the country’s vaccination program for men who have sex with men, people with multiple partners, those who participate in group sex, and visitors to sex-on-premises venues such as swinger clubs, saunas, and bathhouses.
In an October interview with The Advocate, Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, the former White House National Mpox Response Deputy Coordinator, said the communities most at risk during the 2022 clade IIb outbreak — men who have sex with men, transgender and nonbinary people, and people living with HIV — “are the ones who need to pay attention again.”
He emphasized that the JYNNEOS vaccine remains effective and that people who already received two doses do not need a booster. For those who received only one dose during the 2022 outbreak, he said “it’s never too late,” noting that a second dose will strengthen protection and does not require restarting the regimen.
U.S. Catholic bishops have voted to bar Catholic hospitals from providing transgender patients with gender-affirming care, including hormones and surgical procedures.
The vote, taken last week during the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' plenary assembly in Baltimore, updates the "Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services," the Church's rulebook governing medical procedures it deems immoral.
The directives spell out how Catholic-affiliated hospitals and staff should respond to medical situations that may clash with personal religious beliefs or Church teaching on issues like end-of-life care, contraception, abortion, or gender identity.
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