Earlier this week, a World Health Organization (WHO) official reassured that the mpox virus, while serious, does not pose the same threat as COVID-19, as the virus’s spread can be controlled with known measures.
Nonetheless, the current outbreak is increasing in scale and involves two strains of the virus: the original strain from the 2022-2023 global outbreak and a newer, potentially more dangerous mutated version.
The newer, more deadly strain of the virus, known as clade Ib, has largely been reported in Africa, with a significant number of cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Recently, Thailand reported its first case of clade Ib outside Africa, following Sweden’s earlier detection of the strain. The infected individual, a 66-year-old European man, traveled from an unnamed African country to Bangkok on August 14.
In response to the outbreak, the WHO declared a public health emergency of international concern on August 14. The situation is particularly dire in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where over 1,000 new cases were reported in a single week.
African health authorities have urgently requested vaccines, with the smallpox vaccine being effective against mpox due to the similarity between the viruses.
Globally, other recent cases have been attributed to clade II, which is less severe compared to clade Ib. While clade II cases result in flu-like symptoms and lesions similar to clade Ib, it is significantly less deadly, with a survival rate above 99.9%. In contrast, clade Ib has a much higher fatality rate, killing up to 10% of those infected.
The WHO is taking proactive steps to address the outbreak by enhancing preparedness, improving surveillance, and fostering international cooperation.
The CDC is also closely monitoring the situation in the United States, focusing on rapid detection and containment efforts to prevent the virus’s spread. These global measures aim to manage and reduce the impact of the outbreak.
