MPox Virus Mutating Very Fast, Scientists Finding Hard To Track The New Strain | N18G | Health

Scientists are closely monitoring a new strain of the mpox virus, known as clade Ib, which has emerged from the Democratic Republic of Congo and is spreading more rapidly than expected. Scientists examining the new mpox strain emerging from the Democratic Republic of Congo report that the virus is evolving more rapidly than anticipated. Scientists studying the new mpox strain that has spread out of Democratic Republic of Congo say the virus is changing faster than expected and often in areas where experts lack the funding and equipment to properly track it. That means that there are multiple unknowns about the virus itself, its severity and how it is transmitting, complicating the response. Mpox is an orthopoxvirus, the same family that causes smallpox. Population-wide protection from a global vaccine campaign against the disease 50 years ago has waned, as the campaigns stopped when the disease was eradicated. Genetic sequencing of clade Ib infections, which the WHO estimates emerged mid-September 2023, show they carry a mutation known as APOBEC3, a signature of adaptation in humans. #mpox #who #virus #healthcare #emergency #englishnews #covid News18 Mobile App -