There have been 120 suspected deaths from monkeypox in the Democratic Republic of the Congo this year, and the virulent Clade I virus may be to blame. There are fears it could follow the milder Clade II and go global
Allowing the monkeypox virus to spread raises the risk it may mutate to become more transmissible
dotted zebra / Alamy
This year’s global outbreak of monkeypox has seen cases in more than 100 countries, and deaths have occurred outside of the virus’ endemic countries in West and Central Africa for the first time.
The World Health Organization’s official death toll for the outbreak as of 7 October stands at 26, but this excludes large numbers of suspected deaths in countries where there is little laboratory testing.
According to countries’ own reported death tolls …