This year, monkeypox has spread all across the world, resulting in more than 71,000 cases and 26 confirmed deaths. However, the variety that has spread quickly is substantially milder than the one that is to blame for a high number of deaths in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the more deadly variant may soon spread similarly, according to reports from the World Health Organization (WHO).
The variety, known as Clade I, has a fatality rate of roughly 10.6 percent, which is nearly three times higher than Clade II’s 3.6 percent. Clade I has typically only been seen in the DRC and briefly in South Sudan, but the WHO has issued a warning that if it is allowed to continue spreading in the DRC, it might now spread to other parts of the world.
It is likely that Clade I was to blame for the DRC’s excessively high death toll of 120 suspected monkeypox deaths from the start of the year until September 21.
It is stated that the WHO is now unsure of what is causing Clade I’s high death rate—poor access to healthcare or more dangerous symptoms.
The monkeypox virus, as its name suggests, belongs to the same family of viruses as the variola virus that causes smallpox and is the infectious disease that causes monkeypox. Fever, headache, sore muscles, chills, swollen lymph nodes in the neck, and—most notably—an odd skin rash that can resemble pimples or blisters are among the typical symptoms.
Officials are now urging a coordinated effort to stop the spread of Clade I or any potential mutations of monkeypox throughout the DRC. It is hoped that as vaccination rates rise in Western nations, we may learn from the coronavirus pandemic and put a stop to the monkeypox variety before it spreads to other nations.
