The clade 1 strain was previously ♑known as the Congo Basin strain has a higher mortality rate of up to 10 per cent compared to the clade 2 strain, ꦚas per reports.
The first case of Mpox clade 1b strain was officially reported in India on Monday in a man hailing from Kerala who recently visited Uni♈ted Arab Emirates. This is the first case of this strain as earlier a man in Haryana had tested positive for clade 2 strain making it the first case in the country since World Health Organis❀ation had called this disease a public health emergency.
In its w🍬arning for the health emergency, WHO mentioned the spread of clade 1b strain as it is considered far more virulent than the clade 2 strain of the Mpox.
The clade 1 strain was previously known as th꧟e Congo Basin strain has a higher mortality 🙈rate of up to 10 per cent compared to the clade 2 strain, as per reports.
The ongoing outbreak is centered in South Kivu prov൲ince, eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and poses a risk for a pandemic.
This outbreak has exhibited the pattern of spreading through human contaꩲct, sexual contact and even though it mostly affects adults, there are several children who have been affected by the virus as well.
Accoridng to a report in Nature, "Clade Ib seems to be different, and is spreading largely through contact between humans, including through sex. Around 18,000 suspected cases of mpox, many of them among children, and at least 600 deaths potentiall൩y attributable to the disease have been reported this year in the DRC alone."
A major part of the African population face ꦏ🙈secondary health conditions including HIV and malnitrition which further increases the death rates.
Untreated HIV can lead to faster deaths and compromised immunity of the individuals and children under the age of 5 suffering from malnutrition may also find 🤡it difficult to survive the virus.
The virus belongs to the newly defined clade Ib lineage, which shows mutations indicating human-to-human spread that may have begu🌄n in September𝄹 2023.
Case numbers are rising rapidly, b🌸ut many suspected cases likely go untested and uncounted due to a testing method that mi💮sses infections with this lineage.
Most affected individuals are adults, and the case fatality rate has increased compared to ༒the 2022 global outbreak.
Mpox is a viral infection caused by the monkeypox virus, which belongs to the Orthopoxvirus genus. There are two distinct variants of mpox, ꦚea🌠ch affecting the severity of the disease and its impact on the populations affected.
These strains are: clade 1b (The Central Afr🎐ican (Congo Basin) strain) and clade 2 ( West African strain).
Skin rash that develops into pus-filled blisters
High fever
Headaches
Muscle aches
Back pain
Low energy
Swollen lymph nodes
Sore throat
The blisters can appear on the palms of the hand and⛦ soles of the feet, face, mouth, throat, groin and genital areas, and anus.
Mpox is transmitted through skin-to-skin contact and can spread by be⛄ing face-to-face with an infected person, as close interactions can release infectious res🔯piratory particles.
The World Health Oཧrganization (WHO) states that iꦑndividuals with multiple sexual partners are at a higher risk of contracting mpox.
Additionally, the virus can be transmitted through contamin🌠ated objects like clothing and linen, needle injuries in healthcare settings, or in communiꦍty places such as tattoo parlors.
Infected individuals can spread the disease until all sore♍s have healed and a new layer of s▨kin has formed.
Children, pregnant wo🙈men, and those with weakened immune systems are particularly vulnerable to mpox.
What needs to happen
A recent article we co-authored in The Lancet Global Health outlines what n🙈eeds to be done to contain this outbreak and prevent it from turning into an epidemic, possibly even a pandemic.
Equitable ꦦaccess to diagnostic tests, vaccines and antiviral treatments requires political commitment and financial investments.
Scientific investigations are neede𒉰d to learn more about exposure settings, transmission routes and clinical presꦐentations.
It’s important ꦡto find the best ways to make these interventions.
We have proposed the establishment of an African-led, multidisciplinary, multi-c﷽ountry Mpox Resear൲ch Consortium (MpoxReC) in Africa.
It should conduct research towards the eliminatio🐷n of mpox as a public health problem.
There is no doubt that a disease in one ܫcorner of the world can suddenly become a global heath threat. It’s time the global health system woke up to ඣthis reality.