Post by Nadica (She/Her) on Jun 27, 2024 6:44:28 GMT
New strain of monkeypox causes miscarriages and spreads rapidly without sexual contact, experts warn - Published June 25, 2024
A new strain of monkeypox that causes miscarriage and has a fatality rate of up to 10 per cent is spreading rapidly in central Africa, a team of experts warned in a press briefing today.
There are fears the new virus – now officially called mpox – could quickly spread to Europe and beyond.
The mutant variant, clade 1b, is “undoubtedly the most dangerous strain of mpox yet,” stressed Prof Trudie Lang, the director of Global Health Network at Oxford University.
First identified in February in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the virus is behaving “extremely” differently to clades 1 and 2 of mpox – the latter of which exploded internationally in 2022, primarily amongst gay men.
The new strain of the virus does not require sexual contact to spread.
On a Zoom call with journalists on Tuesday, the researchers confirmed that clade 1b is spreading through touch, something which is “incredibly worrying,” according to Prof Lang.
It was spreading mother to child, as well as in schools and workplaces, they said.
Presentation of the diseases also differs markedly from previous stains.
The virus had caused an “alarming” number of miscarriages in young women, said the researchers, and the lesions and blistering it causes were spread across the entire body, rather than confined to the genital area.
The death rate was estimated at five and 10 per cent in adults and children respectively.
“It’s causing extreme danger in terms of disease severity,” said Leandre Murhula Masirika, who is leading the research on the new strain in the DRC.
Whole-body rashes, eye problems, and fever were common symptoms, he added.
‘The tip of the iceberg’
The virus appears to be spreading fast. The researchers believe it has already jumped borders in Africa and there are fears – that like Clade 2 – it could spread around the globe.
Cases have been reported in DRC towns that border Rwanda, Burundi, and Uganda.
Experts believe it is highly likely that the virus has already reached these neighbouring countries, although no cases have been officially reported anywhere other than the DRC.
Sex workers regularly travel between the DRC and its neighbours – an obvious route of transmission.
The city of Goma, which has a population of nearly one million, including tens of thousands of refugees, has an international airport which operates frequent direct flights to and from Europe.
The health authorities in Goma announced a large outbreak of the new mpox strain on Monday.
When asked whether countries outside of Africa should prepare themselves for cases, John Claude Udahemuaka, a researcher at the University of Rwanda working on the ground in the DRC to tackle the outbreak, warned that “everyone should be prepared.”
“There are no controls on the borders and people with lesions can go outside the DRC and easily spread this infection,” he added.
So far, around 600 patients have been identified in Kamituga – the town where the mutant virus was first identified – although experts estimate the actual numbers are significantly higher due to the lack of comprehensive surveillance.
Overall, 7,850 mpox cases have been reported in DRC, and 384 deaths, according to the World Health Organization – although it is unclear how many are attributed to clade 1b.
“This is just the tip of the iceberg. The cases are getting higher and higher every day, and it’s only a question of time before it spreads to other countries,” said Mr Masirika.
The smallpox vaccine – the routine rollout of which was halted in large parts of Africa in the 1980s – protects against mpox, but there is no guarantee that it will work against clade 1b, the experts said.
PCR tests designed to diagnose the disease also don’t work for the new strain – meaning thousands could be spreading the illness asymptotically, with no way of knowing whether or not they are infectious.
Experts have linked the new outbreak to a man who travelled from elsewhere in the DRC to Kamuitga, a small mining town just 170 miles from the Rwandan border. He is thought to have had intercourse with multiple sex workers, who then transmitted the virus further into the community.
However, the researchers still don’t understand why or how the mpox virus mutated and have added that question to the growing “list of unknowns” about this mutant strain.
The World Health Organisation, Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), and governments of the DRC and Rwanda are said to be in talks for securing vaccines to try and tackle the outbreak – although whether they will work is another question.
A new strain of monkeypox that causes miscarriage and has a fatality rate of up to 10 per cent is spreading rapidly in central Africa, a team of experts warned in a press briefing today.
There are fears the new virus – now officially called mpox – could quickly spread to Europe and beyond.
The mutant variant, clade 1b, is “undoubtedly the most dangerous strain of mpox yet,” stressed Prof Trudie Lang, the director of Global Health Network at Oxford University.
First identified in February in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the virus is behaving “extremely” differently to clades 1 and 2 of mpox – the latter of which exploded internationally in 2022, primarily amongst gay men.
The new strain of the virus does not require sexual contact to spread.
On a Zoom call with journalists on Tuesday, the researchers confirmed that clade 1b is spreading through touch, something which is “incredibly worrying,” according to Prof Lang.
It was spreading mother to child, as well as in schools and workplaces, they said.
Presentation of the diseases also differs markedly from previous stains.
The virus had caused an “alarming” number of miscarriages in young women, said the researchers, and the lesions and blistering it causes were spread across the entire body, rather than confined to the genital area.
The death rate was estimated at five and 10 per cent in adults and children respectively.
“It’s causing extreme danger in terms of disease severity,” said Leandre Murhula Masirika, who is leading the research on the new strain in the DRC.
Whole-body rashes, eye problems, and fever were common symptoms, he added.
‘The tip of the iceberg’
The virus appears to be spreading fast. The researchers believe it has already jumped borders in Africa and there are fears – that like Clade 2 – it could spread around the globe.
Cases have been reported in DRC towns that border Rwanda, Burundi, and Uganda.
Experts believe it is highly likely that the virus has already reached these neighbouring countries, although no cases have been officially reported anywhere other than the DRC.
Sex workers regularly travel between the DRC and its neighbours – an obvious route of transmission.
The city of Goma, which has a population of nearly one million, including tens of thousands of refugees, has an international airport which operates frequent direct flights to and from Europe.
The health authorities in Goma announced a large outbreak of the new mpox strain on Monday.
When asked whether countries outside of Africa should prepare themselves for cases, John Claude Udahemuaka, a researcher at the University of Rwanda working on the ground in the DRC to tackle the outbreak, warned that “everyone should be prepared.”
“There are no controls on the borders and people with lesions can go outside the DRC and easily spread this infection,” he added.
So far, around 600 patients have been identified in Kamituga – the town where the mutant virus was first identified – although experts estimate the actual numbers are significantly higher due to the lack of comprehensive surveillance.
Overall, 7,850 mpox cases have been reported in DRC, and 384 deaths, according to the World Health Organization – although it is unclear how many are attributed to clade 1b.
“This is just the tip of the iceberg. The cases are getting higher and higher every day, and it’s only a question of time before it spreads to other countries,” said Mr Masirika.
The smallpox vaccine – the routine rollout of which was halted in large parts of Africa in the 1980s – protects against mpox, but there is no guarantee that it will work against clade 1b, the experts said.
PCR tests designed to diagnose the disease also don’t work for the new strain – meaning thousands could be spreading the illness asymptotically, with no way of knowing whether or not they are infectious.
Experts have linked the new outbreak to a man who travelled from elsewhere in the DRC to Kamuitga, a small mining town just 170 miles from the Rwandan border. He is thought to have had intercourse with multiple sex workers, who then transmitted the virus further into the community.
However, the researchers still don’t understand why or how the mpox virus mutated and have added that question to the growing “list of unknowns” about this mutant strain.
The World Health Organisation, Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), and governments of the DRC and Rwanda are said to be in talks for securing vaccines to try and tackle the outbreak – although whether they will work is another question.