US CDC issues second health alert for mpox virus in Congo

(Reuters) - The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a second health alert on Tuesday to notify clinicians and health departments about a deadly type of the mpox virus spreading in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

The World Health Organization (WHO) said earlier in the day that an emergency committee would be convened to discuss whether the current mpox outbreak in the DRC represents a public health emergency of international concern.

The current mpox outbreak in Congo has already seen around 27,000 cases and claimed more than 1,100 lives, most of them children, since the beginning of 2023.

The CDC said its alert was about the spread of a subtype of the mpox virus called Clade I from DRC to some neighboring countries.

Clade I generally leads to more severe infections than another subtype called Clade II. However, the risk of Clade I infection spreading in the U.S. is considered to be very low, the CDC added.

The health agency recommends clinicians in the U.S. maintain a "heightened index of suspicion" for mpox in people who were recently in DRC or countries sharing borders with DRC.

CDC said no cases of mpox have been reported outside central and eastern Africa at this time.

(Reporting by Christy Santhosh)