A new type of mpox called "clade 1b" appears to be deadlier and able to spread from person-to-person more easily than previous forms. Mortality rates are as high as 10% of infections. The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said the situation in Central Africa was now "high risk."
Mpox, formally known as monkeypox, is an infectious disease caused by the monkeypox virus.
Clade 1b mpox was first detected in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in central Africa, where it started spreading in September 2023.
Infections have since been reported in Cameroon, the Central African Republic (CAR), and Rwanda. New cases in Uganda and Kenya in early August 2024 were also linked to clade 1b.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said it was convening an expert committee to advise on whether to declare an international emergency, as it did during the global mpox outbreak in 2022.
In a post on social media platform X, WHO Director-General Tedros........