A new strain of the mpox virus spreading quickly along the eastern border of Democratic Republic of Congo is “incredibly worrying”, say health officials monitoring its spread.
The virus, which can cause lesions across the whole body, is making some people very ill and can be deadly.
The current outbreak has been driven by sexual transmission but there is evidence this strain can also be passed on through close skin-to-skin contact.
Global health experts say the new variant risks cross-border and international spread of the virus, with one calling it the “most dangerous strain yet”.
I see, I wasn’t aware the last outbreak had actually spread beyond the region. Thank you for the correction.
That said, I do not think reporting on every possible future pandemic actually helps more than it harms, in the grand scale of global mental health.