The World Health Organization (WHO) has reported the detection of a new, hybrid mpox recombinant strain linked to international travel, with two cases confirmed in India and the United Kingdom.

• The new strain emerged from the recombination of clade Ib and clade IIb of the existing mpox virus.
• The first case was detected in the United Kingdom with travel history to a country in South-East Asia, and the second in India with travel history to a country in the Arabian Peninsula.
• Both individuals experienced symptoms similar to known mpox clades and did not suffer severe illness, with no secondary cases detected after contact tracing.
• The WHO maintains its overall public health risk assessment for mpox as unchanged, despite the new strain and a recent Nipah virus outbreak report in India.