NEW YORK — Health officials have indicated that two Californians diagnosed with mpox could be the first documented cases in the United States resulting from the local transmission of a distinct variant of the virus.
This week, the Long Beach Department of Health and Human Services confirmed the initial case via testing conducted at a state laboratory. On Thursday, health officials from Los Angeles County reported a second, related case.
Officials assert that the public’s risk remains low.
While these are not the initial U.S. cases of what is classified as clade I mpox, all six previously reported cases involved international travelers who were believed to have contracted the virus abroad.
Both individuals in California have been hospitalized but are now recovering at home. Officials chose not to share further details. “At this stage of our investigations, we have not established any link between the two cases,” stated Jennifer Ann Gonzalez, acting public affairs officer for the Long Beach health department.
Long Beach, although situated in Los Angeles County, has an independent city health department. Investigators have yet to identify a close contact who traveled abroad or confirm any additional cases. A few close contacts of the infected individuals have received vaccinations, according to Nora Balanji, communicable disease coordinator for the Long Beach department.
“We don’t have any evidence of ongoing community transmission,” she remarked. “This is an area we are currently examining. It’s a concern for us.”
Mpox, also referred to as monkeypox, is a rare illness caused by a virus related to the one responsible for smallpox. It is endemic in specific regions of Africa.
The milder symptoms may include fever, chills, and body aches, while severe cases can result in lesions on various body parts such as the face, hands, chest, and genitals.
A variant of the virus, known as clade II, triggered an international health crisis in 2022, leading to an escalation of infections across numerous countries, primarily affecting men who have sex with men. At one point, the U.S. was reporting nearly 500 cases daily.
While the infections were seldom fatal, many individuals experienced painful skin lesions for weeks. The outbreaks eventually subsided later that same year, partly due to the Jynneos vaccine produced by Bavarian Nordic.
The alternative version, clade I, can similarly spread through sexual contact, as well as other types of interaction. In Africa, it has affected a more diverse range of individuals, including children.
A newer strain of the clade I virus has been transmitted in large numbers in eastern and central Africa. The World Health Organization previously classified the situation as a public health emergency; however, last month it announced that the issue had diminished sufficiently that it was no longer an international emergency.
Yet, “the prospect of this virus appearing and beginning to transmit between people here is alarming,” expressed Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious diseases specialist at Vanderbilt University.
The emergence of these cases comes during a federal government shutdown, which has led to the furlough of hundreds of staff at the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — the agency typically responsible for outbreak responses.
Balanji mentioned that some CDC specialists have been available for consultation with her department regarding the situation. However, Schaffner pointed out that “the longer the shutdown persists, the more compromised public health responses become in the face of any outbreak.”
A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services directed inquiries to local health officials.
— Mike Stobbe
