Uptick in Mpox Cases Raises Concern Among Health Officials
Yesterday, India’s Federal Health Ministry reported the nation’s first documented case of mpox.
The infected individual was reported to have contracted the clade Ib strain of the virus, which is a far deadlier variant than the more common clade II. This development has raised considerable concern among health officials around the world as the mpox epidemic had been contained in the Democratic Republic of Congo until recently.
In August, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the emerging mpox epidemic to be a “global health emergency”. In the early stages of the epidemic, around 90 percent of all cases had been reported in the Democratic Republic of Congo. In the following weeks, infections were reported in neighbouring states, including Kenya, Burundi, and Rwanda. The virus had also spread to non-African countries, such as Pakistan, Thailand, and Sweden.
The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (ACDC) reported a 160 percent rise in cases from the previous year, adding that most of these cases are from the deadlier clade I variant. Additionally, in the past few weeks, there have been a considerable uptick in cases in Kinshasa, the capital city of Congo. According to the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Ministry of Health, Kinshasa had only seen 525 cases of transmission as of September 15. However, 10 percent of those cases had been reported in the final week of that testing period, indicating to analysts that rates of transmission are on the rise.
Although there have been few cases of the clade Ib strain detected, as well as zero fatalities, outside of Congo, health officials around the world have set up processes to track the spread and isolate infected individuals. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) urged for continued vigilance surrounding this epidemic, stating, “The size of these outbreaks could be larger than reported due to under-ascertainment and under-reporting”. It is estimated by the Congolese Health Ministry that only 20 percent of mpox cases are confirmed, with most never seeking care or having their symptoms brushed off as chickenpox.
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