Mpox declared a global emergency by the World Health Organization

The new variant spreads more easily

The number of cases reported so far this year has already exceeded last year’s total, with more than 15,600 cases and 537 deaths recorded according to the WHO.

Officials announced on Wednesday that an outbreak of the strain in the Democratic Republic of Congo was now a ‘public health emergency of international concern’.

It is the second time in three years that an mpox epidemic has been designated as a global emergency.

The viral disease occurs mostly in central and western Africa, with the most recent outbreak spreading across 13 countries, including some that have never reported mpox cases before.

According to the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, mpox was first identified in laboratory monkeys and was previously known as monkeypox.

In 2022 it was renamed by the WHO after receiving complaints that the original name was ‘racist and stigmatising’.

Though most cases are mild, it can be deadly. The disease spreads through close contact with infected people, including via sex.

The new variant of the Clade 1 strain, known as Clade 1b, appears to spread more easily through close contact, particularly among children.

Jean Claude Udahemuka from the University of Rwanda said the variant is ‘undoubtedly the most dangerous so far’.

The main symptoms of the virus include a rash or pus-filled lesions which last two to four weeks, fever, chills, swollen lymph nodes, exhaustion, muscle aches, backache, headache and sometimes respiratory symptoms.

Currently, there is no treatment approved specifically for mpox but for most patients with mpox who have intact immune systems and don't have a skin disease, supportive care and pain control will help them recover without medical treatment, according to the CDC.

A two-dose vaccine has been developed to protect against the virus, which is widely available in Western countries but not in Africa.

Scientists from the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention say they need more than 10 million vaccines but there are currently only 200,000 available.