The disease control department of the Thai Ministry of Health said that the patient who tested positive for the “branch Ib” variant of the monkeypox virus was a European male, and laboratory test results on August 22 confirmed that he was infected with the “branch Ib” variant of the monkeypox virus.
The new strain has a mortality rate of 3% and has now spread to many African countries. Among the known fatal cases, the proportion of patients under the age of 5 exceeded 60%.
On the 14th, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization, announced that the monkeypox epidemic constituted an “international public health emergency”. This is the second time in more than two years that the WHO has announced that the monkeypox epidemic constitutes an “international public health emergency”, which is also the highest level of global epidemic alert under the framework of the International Health Regulations.
According to WHO data, the number of reported monkeypox cases this year has exceeded 15,600, which has exceeded the total number of cases last year, including 537 deaths.
On August 24, Zhao Lei, chief physician of the Department of Infectious Diseases at Wuhan Union Hospital, told reporters that the monkeypox virus is divided into two evolutionary branches: branch I and branch II. Branch I was once called the Central African branch or the Congo Basin branch; Branch II was once called the West African branch, which is further divided into branches IIa and IIb.
“The monkeypox branch Ib virus was detected in the monkeypox outbreak in South Kivu Province, Congo (DRC) in September 2023. On August 14, 2024, the World Health Organization declared the monkeypox outbreak a “public health emergency of international concern” largely because of the monkeypox branch Ib,” said Zhao Lei.
Zhao Lei introduced that in the past, the prevention of monkeypox virus mainly emphasized direct contact or sexual contact transmission. However, the “branch Ib” mutant strain found in Thailand this time has a new evolutionary branch I lineage. “This lineage allows the virus to be transmitted not only through animals, but also through human secretions (such as respiratory droplets), rashes or contaminated objects, which is more threatening.”
It is worth noting that adolescents and children have become the “hardest hit area” in this monkeypox outbreak. According to the first meeting of the World Health Organization on the surge in monkeypox cases in 2024 held on August 19, the most affected people this time are women and children under the age of 15. Children account for more than 70% of cases and 85% of deaths, with the mortality rate for children being four times that of adults.