(VOVWORLD) - Scientists studying the new mpox strain that has spread out of Democratic Republic of Congo say the virus is changing faster than expected and often in areas where experts lack the funding and equipment to properly track it.
 A test tube labelled "Mpox virus positive" is held in this illustration taken August 20, 2024. (REUTERS) |
That means there are multiple unknowns about the virus itself, its severity and how it is transmitting, complicating the response, half a dozen scientists in Africa, Europe and the United States told Reuters.
A new strain of the virus, known as clade Ib, has the world's attention again after the WHO declared a new health emergency. Congo has had more than 18,000 suspected clade I and clade Ib mpox cases and 610 deaths this year, according to the WHO.
There have also been more than 220 confirmed clade Ib cases in four African countries in the last month, plus a case each in Sweden and Thailand in people with a travel history in Africa.