Mpox: What’s a clade got to do with it?

Posted November 5, 2024

Viral evolution makes the news again (in its usual, cruel way) as mpox cases surge in Africa. The outbreak, centered in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), threatens to spill over to other continents, constituting a global health emergency according to the World Health Organization. In 2022, mpox began to spread widely for the first time outside of Africa, where the virus naturally infects animals and sometimes makes the jump to human hosts. Most people infected with mpox fully recover without treatment. Although the 2022 outbreak eventually spread to 116 countries, it killed only around 220 people. The viral strain behind the current outbreak, however, appears to be deadlier. The DRC has already reported more than 1000 deaths. The difference seems to come down to the evolutionary origins of the two viral strains.

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