DOH: Mpox variant has not been seen in New York

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEXSTAR) — For the second time in two years, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a global health emergency over mpox infections on Wednesday. In Congo and other parts of Africa, over 500 have died.

The clade Ib variant endemic to Central Africa has a death rate of anywhere from 3% (according to Salim Abdool Karim, chair of the emergency group at Africa's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) to 10% (according to the U.S. CDC.) Although one case of clade Ib was diagnosed in Sweden, it has never appeared in the U.S. Clade II caused the 2022 outbreak.

New York State Department of Health (DOH) Commissioner Dr. James McDonald confirmed that the variant the emergency was declared over clade Ib, not the clade II previously found in New York. "We still see mpox clade II in New York. For example, we have more cases in New York City of mpox clade II than we had last year, and we have about the same number of cases throughout the rest of the state of clade II than we had all of last year," he said. "We haven't seen any of this new variant that only appeared last year in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the surrounding areas. But we're remaining vigilant for it."

According to DOH, under 500 cases were reported statewide, excluding New York City, since that 2022 outbreak. In New York City, however, over 300 cases were diagnosed so far in 2024, with a spike of about 30 diagnoses in early April. All of these have been clade II.

The most recent data from DOH showed that in the past week, outside of New York City, there has only been one new mpox infection between August 7 and August 14. The clade II diagnoses was reported in Dutchess County.

Formerly called monkeypox, mpox was diagnosed in both children and adults in over a dozen countries. Although the dangerous new variant is spreading, few vaccines are available in Africa. “This should worry all of us," said WHO's director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. "The possibility of the virus spreading within and beyond Africa is very concerning.”

Africa's CDC wants international aid to address the problem. Most cases and deaths are in Congo, with surging numbers so far in 2024. Over 14,000 cases were reported, mostly among children under 15.

Related to smallpox, mpox was first discovered in monkeys in 1958. It spreads mostly through close contact. Symptoms include fever, chills, body aches, and lesions on the face, hands, chest, and genitals. In 2022, it spread to over 70 countries that had not experienced it before.

Vaccines controlled outbreaks in those countries, though Africa received few doses. Congo has not yet received a requested 4 million doses, mainly for children. Scientists think rich countries can prevent a new epidemic if the new, more transmissible variant, diagnosed in a Congolese mining town, spreads from Africa.

On Thursday, DOH warned that cases could arrive in the travel destination of New York. They said that the two-dose JYNNEOS vaccine still provides effective immunity. The CDC explains that they don't recommend more than two doses, and that immunity can last anywhere from two to 10 years.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.