In June 2024 health officials shared concerns about a new mpox strain that is moving along the eastern border of Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), describing it as “incredibly worrying”. This variant poses a threat of cross-border and international spread, with evidence that it can be spread through close skin-to-skin contact as well as sexual contact. This compounds an already dangerous outbreak in DRC; WHO reported 7,851 cases by 26th May 2024, including 384 deaths.
A new threat
The latest strain is a mutated form of clade I mpox, and the US CDC suggests that this clade causes “more severe illness and deaths”. Doctors have reported a fatality rate of “about 5% in adults and 10% in children” and “high rates of miscarriages”. First identified in April in Kamituga, a town in South Kivu province, the “clade Ib” strain has become “more efficient at human-to-human transmission”, with implications for wider spread.
Lecturer at the University of Rwanda, Dr John Claude Udahemuka, shared his concern that this is “undoubtedly the most dangerous of all the known strains of mpox”. He suggested that a change of season would encourage greater movement of people, facilitating disease spread. He emphasised the need for “everyone” to “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.”
Leandre Murhula Masirika, Research Coordinator in the health department in South Kivu province, commented that “the disease can go through airports” because “there are no controls”.
“I’m afraid it’s going to cause more damage.”
The Economist reflects that the region’s situation is “complicated by war, displacement, and food insecurity”.
“Preventing this new mpox strain from becoming another global health crisis requires swift and co-ordinated action.”
Furthermore, there is a likelihood of asymptomatic cases, which will enable further spread. Professor Trudie Lang from the University of Oxford warned that the known case numbers are “the tip of the iceberg”.
“It’s definitely the most dangerous strain yet… We don’t know how many non-severe cases are hidden.”
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