Health · Public Health & Disease · 1 hr ago

Mpox clade 1b detected in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro

Mpox clade 1b detected in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro

Brazil has detected Mpox clade 1b in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro in 2026.

São Paulo health officials reported 103 cases linked to the variant by November 13, mostly in the metropolitan area.

Rio reported 30 recent cases associated with clade 1 and 11 with clade 2, and one Mpox death this year.

São Paulo and Rio account for more than 76% of Brazil’s 1,055 recorded cases, with 409 in São Paulo and 395 in Rio.

Clade 1b drove an outbreak in parts of Africa in 2024, including more than 78,000 cases and 1,000 deaths in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Studies outside Brazil suggest clade 1b may spread more easily and cause more severe illness than clade 2b, which was dominant in Brazil in 2022, but it is not known whether that pattern will hold in Brazil.

Health officials do not yet know if the variant has been found in other Brazilian states, and the article gives no further steps.

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Bruno TavaresInfectious disease specialist at Hospital Alemão Oswaldo Cruz
The difference of this variant from the old one, and whether it is more concerning, is precisely that it has shown itself to be more transmissible and to have a more pathogenic capacity, as we call it, and a greater capacity to transmit and cause more severe disease
via CNN Brasil