SINGAPORE has not detected any cases of the more infectious Clade I variant of the mpox virus so far, said the Ministry of Health (MOH) on Wednesday (Sep 4).

All 14 confirmed cases of mpox detected here are of the “better understood and less severe” Clade II variant, said Dr Marc Ho, from MOH’s communicable diseases policy and preparedness division, at a press conference.

The Clade I variant remains generally confined to Africa for now, he said, and the risk of the virus being imported from outbreak countries is low as there are no direct flights between Singapore and Africa.

Clade I cases are expected to be spotted across the world, he noted. “But as long as these cases do not spread in their respective countries, the risk to Singapore does not change significantly.”

Minister for Health Ong Ye Kung said there is no need to raise the infectious disease alert level to that of a public health threat, which was the level during the Covid-19 pandemic. The level is currently at that of “outbreak management”, one step up from the baseline.

“We have been developing many contingency plans since the Covid-19 pandemic,” said Ong. “It’s time for us to dust off these plans and put some of them into action.”

Singapore’s response measures may change as more is understood about the virus, he added.

Vaccine measures

Current measures include selective vaccination of two groups: healthcare workers with the highest risk of exposure, and close contacts of confirmed mpox cases. Both groups wi...