Mpox outbreak 2024: Argentina quarantines cargo ship after crew member shows virus symptoms

A cargo ship on Argentina’s Parana River has been quarantined amid a suspected case of mpox.

It was reported that one of the crew, of Indian nationality, showed ‘cyst-like skin lesions predominantly on the chest and face’ and the person has been isolated from other crew members.

The news comes as health authorities around the world are on high alert over the spread of the clade 1 mpox variant.

The variant is still of concern because it spreads faster and has a higher mortality rate in comparison to the milder version of the clade 2 outbreak that was recorded in Europe, Australia, the US and many other countries in 2022.

This second, more deadly strain is now endemic in central Africa and is behind the recently discovered variant in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Mpox has spread to Sweden while cases have also been reported in Pakistan and the Philippines.