Thailand confirms first Asian case of new Mpox strain

[PeteC]

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/czrgpg127zgo

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/ge ... ble-strain

Thailand has announced its first confirmed case of a new, potentially deadlier strain of Mpox - the first in Asia, and second outside of Africa.

According to Thailand's Department of Disease Control, the infected 66-year-old European man arrived in Bangkok from an unnamed African country on 14 August..........

[2/cb]

Excuse my ignorance if I’m wrong but is it correct that over 90% of cases involve promiscuous gay men?

[Dannie Boy]

Excuse my ignorance if I’m wrong but is it correct that over 90% of cases involve promiscuous gay men?

I don’t think it’s anything like 90% - the below extract gives further information.

To assess the threat – despite the uncertainty - we first need to realise this is not one mpox outbreak, but three.

They are all happening at the same time, but affecting different groups of people and behaving differently.

They are labelled by their “clade” – essentially which branch of the mpox virus family tree they come from.

Clade 1a is causing most of the infections in the west and north of the Democratic Republic of Congo. This is the outbreak that has been going on for more than a decade. It is spread mostly by eating infected wildlife known as bushmeat. Those who get sick can pass the virus onto people they come into close contact with and children have been particularly affected.

Clade 1b is the new branch of the mpox family and is causing the outbreaks in the east of the DRC and neighbouring countries. This is being spread along trucking routes with drivers having heterosexual sex with exploited sex workers, with infected people also passing it onto children through close contact.

Clade 2 is the mpox outbreak that went around the world in 2022 and again had a strong connection with sex, this time predominantly affecting gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men communities (98.6% were men in the UK, external) as well as their close contacts. This outbreak is not over.

[joelle]

Thanks DB for the information

[buksida]

Tourism firms jittery over mpox impact
Tourism operators have expressed concerns over mpox as the first suspected case of a more transmissible strain of the virus was detected in Thailand.

Operators urged the government to extend preventive measures and communicate with private operators and related industries.

Earlier this week, Thailand reported a European patient who travelled to Africa might be infected with the more serious Clade 1b strain of mpox.

The World Health Organization has declared mpox a global health emergency, but noted it is not "a new Covid" as authorities know how to control its spread.

Adith Chairattananon, honorary secretary-general of the Association of Thai Travel Agents, said tourism operators are demanding clear preventive guidelines and possible scenarios to tackle mpox in Thailand.

"We don't want to face a worst-case scenario, which is a spike of infections and eventually a lockdown, as happened with Covid-19," said Mr Adith. "Preventive measures typically require lower budgets than trying to control an outbreak when it's too late."

https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/ge ... pox-impact

[Big Boy]

Tourism firms? Surely, it should be residents of Thailand who get jittery at the way the Gov't is encouraging more and more tourism into the country.

[buksida]

TIT, where money and profit come first - the people don't get a say. Remember them leaving the doors open to the Chinese in early 2020 when Covid had already broken out?