Recently, a clustered epidemic of monkeypox virus Ib sub-branch was discovered in my country. The source of infection was a foreigner with a history of travel in the Congo (DRC). After the epidemic was discovered, the country and provinces (cities) such as Zhejiang, Guangdong, Beijing, and Tianjin quickly launched a joint prevention and control mechanism, carrying out epidemiological investigation and tracing, risk investigation, case diagnosis and treatment, and four related cases were found among close contacts, all of which were infected after intimate contacts. The relevant cases are mainly symptoms such as rash and herpes, and the symptoms are relatively mild. At present, no infected persons were found among the general contact persons. Relevant infected persons and risk personnel are undergoing medical treatment and health observation, and the epidemic has been effectively dealt with.
Q&A on epidemic prevention and control knowledge about monkeypox virus Ib sub-branch
What is monkeypox virus Ib sub-branch?
Currently, monkeypox virus has two branches: branch I and branch II, which are divided into sub-branches of Ia, Ib and IIa and IIb. Past monkeypox epidemics were mainly prevalent in Africa:
In May 2022, the IIb sub-branch broke out in many previous non-epidemic countries and regions such as Europe, the Americas and Asia;
On July 23, 2022, the World Health Organization announced that the monkeypox epidemic in many countries was a "public health emergency of international concern."
As the epidemic in the IIb sub-branch is gradually effectively controlled, on May 11, 2023, the World Health Organization announced that the monkeypox epidemic no longer constitutes a "public health emergency of international concern."
The sub-branch of monkeypox virus Ib was first discovered in South Kivu Province, Democratic Congo in September 2023. Since July 2024, the sub-branch of monkeypox virus Ib has gradually spread from the Democratic Congo to neighboring countries, causing continuous community transmission and gradually imported into other African countries and countries and regions outside Africa through international travel. On August 14, 2024, the World Health Organization once again declared the monkeypox epidemic a "public health emergency of international concern."
How is the progress of the monkeypox virus Ib sub-branch epidemic outside Africa?
