England Continues Reporting Mpox Clade 1 and 2 Cases

While most Mpox cases have been detected in Africa this year, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) recently reported several instances of both monkeypox virus clades.

On May 8, 2025, the UKHSA confirmed mpox clade Ib and clade IIb cases in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.

Up to the end of April 2025, 12 cases of mpox clade Ib have been reported in England this year. Most of these cases have reported direct or indirect links to travel to countries where mpox clade Ib is circulating, such as the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sierra Leone.

From 2023 to April 2025, 508 cases of mpox clade IIb have been reported in the UK.

Of these, 470 were in England (212 cases were presumed to have acquired mpox in the UK, 155 were acquired outside the UK and 103 are awaiting classification), 19 were in Scotland (4 were supposed to have acquired mpox in the UK, 9 were imported cases acquired outside the UK and six are awaiting classification), 10 were in Wales (4 were presumed to have acquired mpox in the UK, 2 were imported cases acquired outside the UK and four are awaiting classification), and nine were in Northern Ireland (5 were presumed to have acquired mpox in the UK, 3 were imported cases acquired outside the UK and one is awaiting classification).

The UKHSA wrote, 'despite continuing and regular imports of mpox clade IIb, case numbers during 2023 to 2025 likely remain substantially lower than those seen in 2022 due to high levels of vaccine protection suppressing transmission.'

Since June 2022, the UK government has endorsed a vaccination strategy intending to interrupt transmission of the mpox virus in the subset of individuals at increased risk of exposure.

As of May 11, 2025, Bavarian Nordic JYNNEOS® (MVA-BN®, IMVAMUNE®) is available in the United Kingdom and the United States.