A New Monkeypox Strain Identified in England
This strain appears to be a combination of Clade Ib (which causes more severe infections and is more readily spread) and Clade IIb (the one responsible for the “Pride Summer” global outbreak in 2022).
Health officials in the United Kingdom have reported identifying a new strain of monkeypox in England.
What is concerning is that this strain appears to be a combination of Clade Ib (the strain that causes more severe infections and spreads more readily) and Clade IIb (the one responsible for the “Pride Summer” global outbreak in 2022).
The patient in this case reportedly contracted the infection in Asia.
A new strain of mpox, previously called monkeypox, has been detected in a person in England, say UK health officials.
The virus is a mix of two major types of the mpox virus, and was found in someone who recently returned from travelling in Asia.
Officials say they are still assessing the significance of the new strain.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) says it is normal for viruses to evolve. Getting vaccinated remains the best way to protect against severe disease – although an mpox infection is mild for many.
New mpox strain identified in England https://t.co/BVPo5ruzoL
— BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) December 8, 2025
Currently, there are no specific reports on the patient’s condition.
The clade 1b mutation kills up to one in 100 of those infected and is believed to be behind a wave of miscarriages in Africa, where it emerged.
A different, less severe, form of mpox, called clade II, sparked alarm among health officials globally in 2022 when it began spreading rapidly across multiple countries mainly through sexual contact among gay and bisexual men.
However, new infections gradually tapered off amid boosted awareness of the disease and a hurried vaccination program.
Experts today warned the new mpox strain was ‘what experts feared would happen’ and cautioned there was still not enough available information to assess how deadly it may be.
Health officials plan to track this case and look for others like it to determine how the virus’s evolution will affect its route of transmission and severity.
Professor of global health research Trudie Lang, from the University of Oxford, said: “It is of concern that there is an mpox case in the UK, and of further concern that it is a new recombinant mpox virus.
…“The recent experience we have had, and still persists in Africa, when clade Ib emerged, showed that this virus can cause severe disease, and so measures to reduce transmission and prevent spread are vital.”
She added: “With clade Ib we observed changes in transmission, seeing person-to-person close contact as well as sexual transmission, changing from previous strains being limited mainly to animal-to-human and within households, and the previous European outbreak where the transmission was limited to close sexual transmission.
“So, if further cases of this strain appear in the UK, and anywhere in the world, it will be important to understand the route of transmission, the presentation and severity of disease, so we can assess whether this strain is more or less dangerous than previous ones and response accordingly with a connected global effort.”
🦠 England has detected a newly evolved mpox strain combining clade I and clade II – a recombinant form that scientists say warrants genomic surveillance as the virus continues to evolve. 🔗 https://t.co/xmHINx0duO #HealthNews #Mpox #PublicHealth #Genomics #InfectiousDiseases pic.twitter.com/Mn76EAxo82
— MED (@MEDtriagex) December 8, 2025
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Comments
Good news. CVS will vaccinate you for monkey pox although likely not this strain at this time,.
I avoided monkeypox by using this weird trick…
It’s amazing how many societal problems are solved by recognizing that Tab A fits in Slot B to the exclusion of any other iteration.
Don’t monkey around.
Right turn Clyde!
I loved this movies when I was a kid. Thought orangutans were the funniest/coolest thing.
Pass me a tot of rum and my lash.
Trying to get that going again. This time, England. They’ll go for it. They’re already in the toilet.
Amazing how Peggy Sues’s mom gave her the best sex ed advise
“Keep your legs closed”
I’m. Sorry, but some gay had sex with some monkey at point A , then sex with another male, and finally the poor wife gets it in the end…
“Sorry, but some gay had sex with some monkey at point A”
Low probability.
High probability: Patient Zero was an illicit consumer of “bush meat” (any unusual species poached for food purposes).
It seems likely that it entered the human population through that means but that is not the main source of transmission at this point.
Well, certainly. But neither is the beastiality conjecture. And it answers the revulsion people feel about that particular origin story.
It’s bestiality and please don’t mispronounce it. English can be beastly.
Wow. Since I don’t engage in promiscuous unprotected random gay sex or hit up the goats and monkeys for relief I miss out on everything.
Poofters in peril.
It must be spreading like gangbusters if it can hybridize. Monkeypox ain’t going away, and it looks like it will keep on evolving.
Rumor has it this could be stopped in its tracks with one little trick. But I went to a state school, so I’m not real sure.
More fun and games from the WHO.
Be prepared!
Don’t have sex with other men who have oozing open sores.
That’s how you get it. Friction on open sores.
Every ‘outbreak’ revolves around men who had sex with men with open sores in places where there’s friction during sex.
That is how it spreads right now. It may not stay that way. Viruses always evolve to spread better, and enough people are getting it to drive evolution. Monkeypox will get better at spreading.