The World Health Organisation, on Saturday, reported 12,569 mpox cases and 581 related deaths in the Democratic Republic of Congo this year to November 12, the highest annual figure ever recorded.
The infectious disease, formerly known as monkeypox, was first identified in humans in 1970 in the DRC.
It has been endemic for years in several West and Central African countries, where outbreaks often began when the virus was transmitted to humans from infected animals.
All but four of the DRC’s 26 provinces reported infections, “with new cases in geographic areas that had previously not reported mpox, including Kinshasa, Lualaba, and South Kivu”, the WHO said.
Source : Punch