Mpox can lead to painful rashes and a deadly new strain has claimed dozens of lives in Africa. Photo / File
Concerns are growing within the global medical community about an outbreak of a more deadly variant of mpox.
The virus - formerly known as monkeypox – is endemic in Africa, but an outbreak with origins in the Democratic Republic of Congo of the more serious Clade 1B variant has been linked to dozens of deaths across the continent.
It’s not linked to an outbreak of the Clade 2 strain that sparked an outbreak among the gay community in 2022.
The virus has now spread to other countries, with cases found in Sweden and Thailand. It has prompted the World Health Organisation to declare this a global health emergency.
University of Auckland associate professor and co-director of the Global Vaccine Data Network, Dr Helen Petousis-Harris, told The Front Page mpox is part of the Orthpox family of viruses, and is similar to smallpox. While it doesn’t spread easily, it does spread through close contact, and leads to flu-like symptoms such as fever, chills and congestion, then to a rash that can be extremely painful.
She said it’s difficult to ascertain the mortality rate of this outbreak.
“For a long time, it probably had a lot of impact cases that were going undetected, particularly due to, for example in Nigeria [they] criminalise same-sex activity, also expression of trans people.
“So if you presented with this pox, you may seem to be affiliated with these practices, which could be very detrimental to you, so you can appreciate why people might keep quite quiet about it.
“And we’ve seen a lower mortality rate outside of Africa. So you’ve also got different populations, you’ve probably got different healthcare, you’re probably also likely to capture all the cases as well. So I think that’s a good question, but yes, this one does seem to be more lethal.”
She said the WHO declaration helps elevate the awareness of mpox, and requires a coordinated international response.
“It puts more of a priority on it, the focus on therapeutics and vaccines, for example, and also for people to collaborate, countries, nations to collaborate in sharing their knowledge.
“If you want to dampen down an outbreak or control or eliminate it, you need to collaborate because people just hop on planes all the time. And, of course, the infection, that’s how it pops up all over the place and how it spread in 2022; it’s a plane ride away.”
Listen to the full episode for more on what’s being done to combat the spread of mpox, and improve healthcare in Africa.
The Front Page is a daily news podcast from the New Zealand Herald, available to listen to every weekday from 5am. The podcast is presented by Chelsea Daniels, an Auckland-based journalist with a background in world news and crime/justice reporting who joined NZME in 2016.
You can follow the podcast at iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
The man is now in a critical but stable condition in hospital.