Mpox was declared a global health emergency by the WHO last August. Stock image. Photo: Getty
It has taken almost six months since Mpox was declared a global health emergency for the more worrying form of the virus to be detected in Ireland.
The first case of the strain was diagnosed this week in a patient who returned here from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where it is endemic. The overall risk to the general population is low – but many questions remain. How sick can an infected person get, and what about passing it on to close contacts, including vulnerable people or children?