The monkeypox virus (mpox) is expected to keep evolving, posing an escalating risk of a potential epidemic as more virulent strains emerge. Sergei Shchelkunov, a prominent expert at the Vector Center, made this statement during a biotechnology symposium in Novosibirsk.
Even with a relatively limited spread of the virus, significant changes in its genetic code are observed, the expert emphasized. “The virus is evolving. The emergence of more pathogenic variants that are more actively transmitted is possible, since we think about evolution, but nature, of course, is much more resourceful than we imagine,” he added.