NEW YORK: Health officials said Saturday they have confirmed the first US case of a new form of mpox that was first seen in eastern Congo.
The person had traveled to eastern Africa and was treated in Northern California upon return, according to the California Department of Public Health. Symptoms are improving and the risk to the public is low.
The individual was isolating at home and health workers are reaching out to close contacts as a precaution, the state health department said.
Mpox is a rare disease caused by infection with a virus that’s in the same family as the one that causes smallpox. It is endemic in parts of Africa, where people have been infected through bites from rodents or small animals. Milder symptoms can include fever, chills and body aches. In more serious cases, people can develop lesions on the face, hands, chest and genitals.
Earlier this year, scientists reported the emergence of a new form of mpox in Africa that was spread through close contact including through sex. It was widely transmitted in eastern and central Africa. But in cases that were identified in travelers outside of the continent, spread has been very limited, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
More than 3,100 confirmed cases have been reported just since late September, according to the World Health Organization. The vast majority of them have been in three African countries — Burundi, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Since then, cases of travelers with the new mpox form have been reported in Germany, India, Kenya, Sweden, Thailand, Zimbabwe, and the United Kingdom.
Health officials earlier this month said the situation in Congo appears to be stabilizing. The Africa CDC has estimated Congo needs at least 3 million mpox vaccines to stop the spread, and another 7 million vaccines for the rest of Africa. The spread is mostly through sexual transmission as well as through close contact among children, pregnant women and other vulnerable groups.
The current outbreak is different from the 2022 global outbreak of mpox where gay and bisexual men made up the vast majority of cases.
US health officials report 1st case of new form of mpox in a traveler
https://arab.news/whspy
US health officials report 1st case of new form of mpox in a traveler
- Mpox is a rare disease caused by infection with a virus that’s in the same family as the one that causes smallpox
Record low homicide rates in London as mayor defends policies
LONDON: The number of homicides in London last year were the lowest since 2014, UK police data revealed Monday, at a time when mayor Sadiq Khan faces mounting criticism over criminality in the British capital.
There were 97 homicides in 2025, the lowest total since 2014, and London’s homicide rate per capita was the lowest since records began in 1997, according to the new figures.
“Many people have been trying to talk London down, but the evidence tells a very different story,” Khan said in a statement.
“It’s clear that our sustained focus on being both tough on crime and tough on the complex causes of crime is working,” he added.
Khan has faced fierce criticism from Conservative and far-right politicians in the UK, as well as international figures like X owner Elon Musk, who claim that criminality in London has increased.
Some of his critics pin the accusations on the mayor’s pro-immigration stance.
The Labour party politician, who became London’s first Muslim mayor in 2016 and regularly uses his platform to celebrate the capital’s diversity, has also faced rising Islamophobic attacks on social media.
“The statistics speak for themselves, London is a safe place to live, work and visit. Thanks to the work of our dedicated officers, violent crime has reduced, and homicides are at their lowest levels since 2014,” the Met police said in a press release.
Violent incidents resulting in injuries were down by a fifth since 2014, while National Health Service data showed that the number of people hospitalized after being stabbed in London fell by nearly 30 percent in the last five years.
The police also pointed out that London’s homicide rate per capita was the lowest on record despite a growing population, and claimed it was lower than other major cities like New York, Paris, Los Angeles and Berlin.
However, the latest release did not include data on other types of crime including thefts and sexual offenses.
Anti-immigration Reform UK last week said fighting crime in London would be a priority for the party going into key local elections in May and mayoral elections in 2028.
Its mayoral candidate Laila Cunningham last week said London “is no longer safe,” particularly for women.
Phone thefts also continue to plague the British capital, with the Met recording 117,211 stolen phones in 2024, up 25 percent from 91,481 in 2019.
