New mpox strain 'likely already in the UK' and could begin spreading within fortnight, warns expert

A new lethal strain of the mpox virus could already have made its way to the UK, an expert has warned. Leading professor Paul Hunter said the country could begin seeing cases in the next two weeks, as fears over the strain increase.

The World Health Organisation has declared a "public health emergency of international concern" following a deadly surge in Africa with over 13,500 cases and 450 deaths in the Democratic Republic of Congo alone since the start of the year.

It has now emerged that a more severe strain of the virus responsible for the 450 deaths, known as Clade 1, was detected in Sweden. There are two types of Clade 1 and the Swedish case has been identified as Clade 1b.

READ MORE: UK health officials planning for mpox cases after WHO declares global emergency

Dr Hunter, Professor of Medicine at the University of East Anglia, told the Mirror that the strain "may well be here" already due to a delay in the testing and diagnosis.

He said: "If I was to bet, I'd bet on it already being in the country, because by the time you get infected and diagnosed to understand what Clade it is, you're looking at around two weeks.

"If you turn up to an STD clinic with symptoms of mpox, the physician that sees you will have no way of being able to tell what Clade it is, because they all look the same.

"You get infected, a week later, you get ill enough to go to the clinic, a sample gets taken - and it's shown to be mpox, and then it's sequenced to see what Clade it is. That whole process can take up to two weeks.

"As of two weeks ago, we probably didn't have any cases, but my guess is that we probably will hear about [new cases emerging] over the next one or two weeks."

Mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, is spread