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Health officials in Long Beach have confirmed the city’s first case of clade I mpox, a different strain of the disease that typically causes more severe illness.
The case is the first known one in the U.S. involving a patent without any history of travel, according to the Long Beach Department of Health and Human Services.
The patient, a Long Beach resident, is only the seventh person in the U.S. to have a confirmed case of the disease. The person was hospitalized and is now isolating and recovering at home, according to health officials.
Clade I mpox is a more serious strain of mpox than clade II, which led to a 2022-23 mpox outbreak in the U.S. Clade I generally causes more severe illness.

Clade I mpox has a reported mortality rate of between 1 and 10%, according to Johns Hopkins.
Clade I mpox has been primarily found in Central and Eastern Africa.
“While the overall risk of mpox clade I exposure to the public remains low, we are taking this very seriously and ensuring our community and health care partners remain vigilant so we can prevent any more cases,” Mayor Rex Richardson said in a statement. “This underscores the importance of continued surveillance, early response and vaccination.”
The more common clade II variant is mostly transmitted through same-sex sexual contact, while clade I is “mostly transmitted through exposure to animals who carry the disease, household contacts, close sexual or intimate contact, and contaminated objects,” according to Johns Hopkins.
The disease has been spread through both heterosexual and same-sex sexual contact in Central Africa, according to the university.
Symptoms include a rash or sores that look like pimples or blisters on the face, body and genitals, as well as fever, chills, headache, muscle aches or swollen lymph nodes.

The JYNNEOS two-dose vaccine is available for everyone, but Los Angeles County health authorities are urging those at higher risk of contracting the virus to get the shots. That includes:
City News Service contributed to this report.
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