Imported mpox cases rise from last year: CDC

• By Lee I-chia / Staff reporter

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The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday reported two new cases of mpox, including a locally acquired case infected with the newer Mpox Clade Ib strain.

It added that mpox cases this year had reached 30, double the number for the same period last year.

The two new confirmed cases include a local case and an imported case, the centers said.

Centers of Disease Control Deputy Director-General Lin Ming-cheng speaks at a news conference in Taipei on Aug.18.

Photo: Lin Chih-yi, Taipei Times

Both cases reported having unsafe sex before the onset of symptoms and were unvaccinated against mpox, it said.

The local case is a man in his 40s who began having symptoms last month, including mouth sores, a fever and rash. The imported case is a man in his 30s, who traveled to Cambodia last month and engaged in unsafe sexual activity, and later experienced fever, chills and rash, it said.

CDC Deputy Director-General Lin Ming-cheng (林明誠) said that as of Monday, 30 cases of mpox have been reported this year — 20 locally acquired and 10 imported — all men aged between 20 and 60.

While the number of local cases has been declining, the percentage of imported cases has increased, he said, adding that the 10 imported cases reported this year were double the figure for the same period last year.

The risk of contracting mpox overseas cannot be overlooked, he said.

Of the 10 imported cases this year, six were from Thailand, and one each from Vietnam, India, Hong Kong and Cambodia, the CDC said.

Epidemiological data from other countries show that both Clade II and the newer Clade Ib virus strains of mpox might cause symptoms including fever, swollen lymph nodes and rash or blisters, but systemic rashes are more widely distributed over the body in Clade Ib, Lin said.

Clade Ib can spread more readily through household contacts compared with Clade II, and immunocompromised people, young children, pregnant women, or those with chronic illnesses are more likely to experience severe illness, he said.

The overall symptoms and fatality rates of Clade Ib and Clade II are similar, and the severity of mpox infection depends heavily on the status of a person’s immune system, the CDC said.

Mpox vaccines can provide effective protection against Clade Ib infection, and the antiviral drug Tecovirimat can help treat a severe Clade Ib infection, it added.

Getting the first dose of the standard two-dose mpox vaccine regimen only provides about 40 to 80 percent protection, while completing the full two-dose series can increase effectiveness up to 90 percent, Lin said.

Since the mpox vaccine was introduced in Taiwan, 111,908 people have received the first dose, while 80,033 people completed two doses, he said, adding that the CDC strongly urges the roughly 29 percent who did not get their second dose to get fully vaccinated as soon as possible.