Another global emergency involving mpox is unfolding, with cases spreading from Africa now springing up across the globe, an echo of the viral crisis two years ago. But this time around, things are different, with a mutated strain of the mpox virus that seems to be more contagious - and more deadly, threatening to become a pandemic on par with COVID-19.
As health authorities first rang alarm bells over a new strain of mpox, clade Ib, spreading through the North and South Kivu provinces of the Democratic Republic of Congo, scientists believe it mutated from the lineage called clade II that impacted the U.S. and other Western countries in 2022.
Currently, there have been 14,719 suspected and 2,822 confirmed mpox cases this year, with 99 percent reported in the African continent. The tally includes 517 deaths, giving this mpox clade an estimated case fatality rate of 3%.
The World Health Organization (WHO) declared mpox a global public health emergency for the second time in two years, concerning a seemingly more rapidly spreading strain. The WHO expressed concern that the spread to other countries and areas is highly likely, remaining very concerning.
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