Statement | 21 August 2024

The DOH Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) reported today to Health Secretary Teodoro J. Herbosa that sequencing of the Monkeypox virus (MPXV) deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) sample from the 10th Mpox case of the Philippines showed it to be of MPXV Clade II.

Mpox (the disease) is caused by the Monkeypox virus (abbreviated as “MPXV”) species of the Orthopoxvirus genus, first discovered among laboratory primates in Denmark in 1958 and later on first observed in humans in 1970. The disease was renamed, the virus was not. There are two major groups of MPXV, called “clades” (plural; singular = clade).

MPXV clade I has been observed mainly in the Congo basin (central Africa), and has been described in the 1980s as having a mortality rate of ranging from 1% to 10%. Clade I is more likely to cause severe illness and death, especially in the immunocompromised.

Clade I has two subclades: Ia, and Ib. Clade Ia is endemic in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), with a case fatality rate (CFR) of 3.6%. Meanwhile, clade Ib is a new strain of MPXV responsible for the current (2024) outbreak in the DRC and nearby countries. According to WHO, “there is, as yet, insufficient information available to fully characterize mpox severity due to clade Ib as data are emerging and, so far, few deaths were recorded, precluding age-stratified analyses.”

Meanwhile, MPXV clade II has been observed mainly in West Africa. It is milder than clade I, with a mortality rate reported from less than 1% to 4%. Clade II caused the 2022 mpox global outbreak. Recent cases of mpox detected in the Philippines thus far are by MPXV clade II, with zero deaths.

“We found the milder MPXV clade II in the 10th mpox case in the Philippines. Let us continue to be alert but not alarmed, preventing mpox spread by avoiding close and intimate physical contact. Clean your hands often with soap and water or alcohol-based sanitizers. Avoid skin-to-skin contact,” said Sec. Herbosa.