New mpox strain is changing fast; African scientists are ‘working blindly’ to respond

Scientists studying the new mpox strain that has spread out of the 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 multiple 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.

Mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, has been...