Mpox strain with higher transmission rate detected in Congo, Bloomberg reports

A strain of mpox with the possibility of a higher transmission rate has been detected in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Bloomberg’s Janice Kew reports. Mpox killed hundreds of people last year after a more severe strain appeared in the Congo and prompted the World Health Organization to declare it as a global public health emergency for the second time, Kew notes. “Clade 1A has a higher case fatality rate and if it’s now more transmissible, it’s a concern,” Ngashi Ngongo, an adviser to the Africa CDC said at a weekly briefing. The strain, together with the country’s fragile health systems and rising mpox cases prompted Africa CDC to extend its continental public health emergency over the disease, he said. TheFly notes that Geovax (GOVX) and Emergent Biosolutions (EBS) both have mpox-related products.