2024-07-07 12:45:07
A new, particularly dangerous variant of the Mpox virus has alarmed the WHO. There are fears that it will spread worldwide.
In May 2022, an outbreak of Mpox (formerly “monkeypox”) caused a stir. The World Health Organization (WHO) registered over 91,000 cases of infection with 157 deaths by May 2023. Now a new variant of the virus is causing a stir.
A new strain of the virus has been identified in the Democratic Republic of Congo – on the border with Rwanda and Burundi. It is considered the most dangerous strain to date because it appears to spread more easily. The infection leads to serious illnesses and even deaths, including among children. There is also an increase in miscarriages.
By the end of May, 7,850 infections and 384 deaths had been reported in Congo. The mortality rate is said to be five percent for adults and as high as ten percent for children. For comparison: for Corona, it was around 0.5 percent.
However, monkeypox has a different transmission route than droplet infection. The infectious disease is transmitted through direct contact of skin or mucous membranes with body fluids or through contact with the lesions (pustules). Infection may also occur through contact with contaminated surfaces.
Apparently, the new strain is a variant of clade 1 – a subgroup. However, clade 2 was responsible for the relatively mild outbreak in 2022. Clade 1 b (the correct name) is apparently so infectious that transmissions have already occurred in schools, workplaces and households.
Experts now warn of a global spread of the new variant. The outbreak affects a vulnerable, hard-to-reach border region, is spreading there and could also spread across borders, explain the professors from the University of Rwanda and Oxford who discovered the new variant.
Leif Erik Sander, an infectious disease specialist at the Charité, explained to the “Deutsches Ärzteblatt” that the affected area in Central Africa is an unstable region with a lot of border traffic to neighboring countries. Goma is located directly on the border with Rwanda, and Uganda and Burundi are also not far away.
Mpox cases have also been detected in Burundi, Rwanda, Cameroon and the Republic of Congo (ROC). “It is assumed that the virus is circulating in the region.” The director of the Clinic for Infectious Diseases and Intensive Care Medicine believes that Mpox will likely spread further across the region. “I see a real danger that the virus could spread worldwide and also in Europe sooner or later.”
In Germany only clade 1
In Germany, the Robert Koch Institute announced on June 26, 2024 that 3,800 cases had been reported to it so far, so far exclusively from clade 1. The situation will continue to be monitored “very closely.” The vaccine Imvanex has been approved in the European Union since July 2023. How well the vaccine protects against the new strain is still unclear.
Typical symptoms of an infection with Mpox are fever, headache, muscle and/or back pain. A rash is characteristic: spots or pustules on the face, on the palms of the hands and on the soles of the feet.