Thailand Confirms First Case of Monkeypox Clade 1b Variant

Thailand confirmed its first case of the Clade 1b mpox variant, with a 66-year-old European man who traveled from Africa testing positive. This is the second instance of the variant outside Africa, following a case in Sweden. No local transmission detected through contact tracing.

Thailand confirmed on Thursday its first case of the Clade 1b mpox variant, which marks the second reported instance of this virus strain outside Africa. The patient, a 66-year-old European man, arrived in Thailand last week from an unidentified African country where the virus is spreading.

Thongchai Keeratihattayakorn, director-general of the Department of Disease Control, stated, 'The test results confirm that he is infected with the Clade 1b strain of monkeypox, which is the first case diagnosed in Thailand, but this man is likely infected from an endemic country.' He noted that no local infections had been detected through contact tracing.

The Clade 1b variant has raised global alarms due to its ease of transmission through routine close contact. The World Health Organization has declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern after identifying the new variant. Thailand has detected 800 cases of mpox Clade 2 since 2022, but this is its first case involving the Clade 1 or Clade 1b variants.

(With inputs from agencies.)