$Top Glove (BVA.SG)$ Scientists studying the new mpox strain...

Scientists studying the new mpox strain that has spread out of Democratic Republic of Congo say the virus is changing faster than expected, and often in areas where experts lack the funding and equipment to properly track it.

That means there are numerous unknowns about the virus itself, its severity and how it is transmitting, complicating the response, half a dozen scientists in Africa, Europe and the United States told Reuters.

Dimie Ogoina, an infectious diseases expert at Niger Delta University Hospital in Nigeria,said it took clade IIb in Nigeria five years or more to evolve enough for sustained spread among humans, sparking the 2022 global outbreak. Clade Ib has done the same thing in less than a year.

Clade I has typically caused more severe disease, with fatality rates of 4%-11%, compared to around 1% for clade II.