U.S. responds to deadly new mpox strain
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A vial of Jynneos vaccine. Photo: Mario Tama/Getty Images
The Centers for Disease Control on Wednesday alerted doctors to be on the lookout for a deadly new strain of mpox spreading through parts of Africa while U.S. officials committed $424 million to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which is the epicenter of the outbreak.
Why it matters: The so-called clade I virus is more virulent and deadly than the clade II variety that caused a global outbreak in 2022.
- The CDC alert came soon after World Health Organization director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he would convene an emergency committee to determine if the outbreak amounts to a public health emergency of international concern.
Threat level: Clade I hasn't been found outside of central and eastern Africa to date, but the CDC said clinicians should be on heightened alert for patients who have recently been in the DRC or to any country sharing a border with it.
- Mpox — previously known as monkeypox — has risen by 160% in Africa this year compared with 2023, according to the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. While most cases are in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, outbreaks have been reported in 15 countries.
- Mpox causes fever, chills, swollen lymph nodes, fatigue and muscle aches and can be deadly to young children and cause complications in pregnant people and adults with weak immune systems.
- Due to the limited number of travelers and lack of direct commercial flights from the DRC, the risk of clade I importation to the U.S. remains very low, CDC said.
The assistance the U.S. Agency for International Development announced on Wednesday includes 50,000 Jynneos vaccines and $10 million in health assistance along with more than $170 million worth of agricultural commodities.
- The health assistance will go toward "a range of critical public health interventions in response to the mpox outbreak in the region," officials said.
The DRC has grappled with mpox outbreaks for decades but lacks the infrastructure to widely distribute vaccines.
- Officials in June authorized the emergency use of two vaccines: Jynneos, made by Bavarian Nordic, and LC16, from KM Biologics.
