Now, The First CONFIRMED Clade 1b Mpox Case... In Sao Paulo, Brazil -- Out Of DRC...

Back in August 2024, we mentioned that there had been a report of the then-current Mpox viral transmission into Brazil, but it was never confirmed as being Clade 1b. That mile marker has now been passed: a relative of a woman in Sao Paulo apparently passed the Clade 1b virus to her -- after returning (unaware no doubt), from a visit to DRC.

And. . . this is how viral epidemics keep on rolling: without the resources to choke them off, at the point of origin. Thanks, RFK, Jr., Tangerine 2.0 and Musk. Dammit. Here's the latest from the U. of Minn.'s excellent CIDRAP outlet:

. . .Brazil has reported its first clade 1b mpox case, per a notice from the national Health Ministry.

According to media reports, the patient is a 29 year-old woman from Sao Paulo, whose relative had recently returned from travel to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Currently the DRC is in the middle of a large mpox outbreak, with thousands of cases caused by clade 1b, a more transmissible strain of the virus.

So far this year Brazil has reported 52 cases of mpox, but all were clade 2, the strain that caused a global outbreak of the virus in 2022 and 2023, primarily among men who have sex with men.

Health Ministry officials said there are no other clade 1b cases in Brazil at this time. . . .

[And my girl made it home without bringing any in -- from Sao Paulo.] Meanwhile, that very stable genius just doubled his tariffs on Canadian steel. That already has tanked the Dow -- again, in under six hours. Who are these clowns? These Nineteenth Century economic and ultra-protectionist trade theories are. . . dead, for a reason, boys. Buy a textbook, please. And read it. Out -- will we see a SPHEREx launch tonight, or will weather be a scrub on the California space-coast?

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