BEIJING: China said on Thursday (Jan 9) it had recorded five cases of a new mpox strain, but that the "outbreak has been effectively handled". Mpox is caused by a virus transmitted to humans by animals but can also spread from person to person through close physical contact.

After France, the new strain of the mutated monkeypox virus, clade 1b has been identified in China. The news comes amidst growing concerns around the HMPV infection in China."Recently, a cluster outbreak of monkeypox virus subclade Ib was discovered in the country.

China has detected the new mutated clade 1b strain of mpox for the first time as the outbreak, declared a global health emergency by the WHO, continues to spread. The Centre for Disease Control and Prevention said on Thursday that the source of the “cluster outbreak” was a foreigner who had lived in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

China has identified a new mutated strain of the monkeypox virus, Clade 1b, following its recent detection in France. This discovery comes amid rising concerns over the HMPV infection in the region.The outbreak originated from a foreigner with a history of living

Chinese health authorities said on Thursday they had detected the new mutated mpox strain clade Ib as the viral infection spreads to more countries after the World Health Organization declared a global public health emergency last year.