A new mpox (formerly known as monkeypox) strain has been discovered in the Democratic Republic of the Congo by a team of Dalhousie researchers and local scientists.
Two years ago, there was a major mpox outbreak in Canada, where more than 1,500 cases and 45 hospitalizations were reported. The virus originated in Africa and eventually spread to Nova Scotia.
Flash forward to 2024, and this new mpox strain has been making its way through a rural area of the DRC called Kamituga.
David Kelvin is professor in Dalhousie University’s Department of Microbiology and Immunology. He is also one of the lead researchers studying the Kamituga Mpox strain.
“The key feature of this recent outbreak in Kamituga, is that we have human to human transmission,” Kelvin says, “and it appears to be pretty efficient because the outbreak has continued on without abatement since September of last year.”
Unlike the outbreak we had here in Nova Scotia in 2022, this new strain has a higher fatality rate of 10 per cent, Kelvin says. It can be spread through heterosexual sex and through community exposure.
“During COVID we basically had these different variants of the virus, the Alpha, the Beta, the Gamma, the Delta variants, and something similar we are analyzing here with mpox,” says Gustavo Martinez, a post-doctoral researcher on Kelvin’s team.
Although the outbreak is half a world away, the lead researcher says we can never be too careful.
“It hasn’t reached here yet, but I would be on guard for it, and be very careful with any travel to Africa, especially DRC,” Kelvin says.
In a statement, Nova Scotia Health says the Public Health Agency assesses the likelihood of mpox importation into Canada from the DRC to be low to moderate, and there have been no cases of it reported yet. However, there are still reports of mpox infections happening in Canada.
According to Nova Scotia Health, there is a two-dose vaccine available to high-risk communities called Imvamune.
“The vaccine is not widespread in DRC right now.” Kelvin says. “In addition to that there are anti-virals, and the anti-virals can be used but they need to be distributed throughout DRC.”
And according to Kelvin that has been no easy task. It took the Congolese field team two days to drive just eight hours, over washed-out mountain roads and through the jungle, to reach Kamituga with supplies.
Through DNA sequencing, Kelvin and his team have found several genetic mutations in the new strain that make it hard to treat.
“This virus may have a potential for even wider spread, epidemic or outbreak, or even pandemic,” he says.
Comments