A new strain of monkeypox or mpox virus is spreading quickly across the Democratic Republic of Congo, causing miscarriages, and killing people, health officials warned.
The mutated strain, clade lb, spreads from person to person through sexual as well as non-sexual contact, causing pus-filled lesions across the entire body and flu-like symptoms. It has a mortality rate of around 5 percent in adults and 10 percent in children.
Researchers believe that the new strain originated among sex workers in a bar in Kamituga in September 2023. Since then, it has infected around 600 people in the town. However, officials said that the actual numbers could be much higher.
During a press meet, Trudie Lang, professor of global health research at Oxford University, referred to the current case figures as "the tip of the iceberg", adding that "we don't know how many non-severe cases are hidden," BBC News reports.
Lang warned, "It's definitely the most dangerous strain yet".
So far this year, 7,850 cases of mpox have been reported in DRC, of which 384 died, according to World Health Organization data. The agency warned that the strain posed "a renewed risk of cross-border and international spread which may potentially lead to an increased risk of severe illness".
Recently, health officials reported about the new mpox strain outbreak in South Kivu province, which shares its borders with Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda, raising concerns about cross-border spread.
"There are no controls on the borders and people with lesions can go outside the DRC and easily spread this infection," said John Claude Udahemuaka, a researcher at the University of Rwanda.
"Everyone should get prepared. Everyone should be able to detect the disease as early as possible. But more important, everyone should support the local research and local response so that it doesn't spread."
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