Alarm over high mortality and miscarriage rates as mutated virus spreads in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo
A child with mpox in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2022. Unlike that outbreak, the new strain is far more virulent and no vaccines are so far available in the DRC.A child with mpox in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2022. Unlike that outbreak, the new strain is far more virulent and no vaccines are so far available in the DRC.The virus appears to be spreading from person to person via both sexual and non-sexual contact, in places ranging from brothels to schools.
Two years ago, an outbreak in Europe and the US that centred on the gay community prompted the World Health Organization toThe new DRC outbreak is a mutated form of clade I mpox. Doctors report a fatality rate of about 5% in adults and 10% in children, as well as high rates of miscarriages among pregnant women.
Researchers believe the current outbreak began in a bar used by sex workers. At a briefing for journalists, Trudie Lang, professor of global health research at Oxford University, said that when the DRC outbreak was detected last September scientists had assumed it would be clade II, because of the sexual transmission, until genetic testing revealed it belonged to the more virulent strain.
South Kivu is on the border with Burundi and Rwanda and close to Uganda, and there is frequent cross-border travel by local people.Lang said it was unclear how many asymptomatic or mild cases there were, with the long incubation time of the virus increasing the risk of transmission before people realised they were sick.
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