Posted on August 15, 2024

The Mpox outbreak in Africa has been declared a global health emergency by the World Health Organization (WHO). The new variant, Clade 1b, is a more serious, deadlier and faster spreading strain of Mpox. Mpox was previously known as monkeypox.

The strain recently spread to four new provinces after being initially confined to the Democratic Republic of Congo. There are cases in a total of 15 countries in Africa. There are concerns it could also spread outside of Africa.

It initially starts with flu

Salim Abdool Karim, a South African infectious diseases expert who chairs the Africa CDC emergency group, told PBS that the new mpox strain “appears to have a death rate of about 3-4%.”