Joseph Choi Global health authorities are raising the alarm over a strain of mpox spreading through the Democratic Republic of Congo, with little known about the mutation other than it seems to spread more easily among humans. The mpox virus circulating in the North and South Kivu provinces of Congo is believed to be mutated from the lineage — clade I — that is endemic to Central Africa, distinct from the strain — descended from clade II — that impacted the U.S.
and other Western countries in 2022 into 2023. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the risk associated with mpox in Congo remains high, with the recently identified mpox strain estimated to have emerged around September 2023. While more is still being learned, the virus does appear to have some worrying features.
“The main difference and what we see or can confirm with epidemiology is there is a sustained human-to human transmission. It’s been going on now for months, and that’s really new as far as clade I goes,” said Sylvie Jonckheere, emerging infectious diseases adviser for Doctors Without Borders who is currently based in Goma, Congo. Clade I mpox is primarily spread from animals to humans as a zoonotic disease and is generally considered to have a higher mortality rate than clade II, causing death in up to 10 percent of infections.
The WHO noted the clade I-descended strain has mutations that indicate “adaptation of the virus due to circulation among humans.” Unlike COVID-19, th.