Hommam Al Nassim 
An international team of epidemiologists has uncovered a new variant of the monkeypox virus, warning it could turn into a pandemic.
The strain was found in the densely populated and impoverished city of Kamituga in the Democratic Republic of Congo, famous for gold mining.
The new strain is the deadliest offspring of the MPXV strain, with a mortality rate of up to 10%, and has shown an ability to infect with difficulty detecting it through diagnostic tests, and this mutation is likely to first appear between July and September 2023 in animals before it is transmitted to humans.
Reports reveal that 30% of recorded cases are among sex workers, suggesting that the way the virus spreads is similar to the epidemiological situation of monkeypox in 2022.
The virus has led to venereal lesions in about 85% of cases, with 10% hospitalization required, and has so far killed two of them.
The researchers warned that the virus could spread at the national and international levels if urgent measures are not taken to contain it, stressing the need for a response from endemic countries and the international community to prevent an epidemic.
The 2022 monkeypox outbreak was caused by the Clade 2 strain, and it is not yet clear whether the current outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo was triggered by sexual contact.
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