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The continent’s top health body has declared monkeypox, a highly contagious disease once known as monkeypox, a public health emergency in Africa.
Scientists at the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said they were shocked by how quickly the new mpox virus spread.
The DRC has recorded more than 13,700 cases and 450 deaths since the beginning of the year.
The virus, which causes lesions throughout the body, has spread to other African countries, including Burundi, the Central African Republic, Kenya and Rwanda.
Declaring a public health emergency will help governments coordinate their responses and could increase the flow of medical supplies and aid to affected areas.
Health chiefs outside Africa will also monitor the outbreak and assess the risk of further spread.
On July 29, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control said the risk of swine pox virus in Europe was “very low”.
Cowpox is spread from animals to humans and from person to person through close contact with an infected person, including sex, skin-to-skin contact, and talking or breathing in close proximity with another person.
It causes symptoms such as fever, muscle pain, and systemic lesions. If left untreated, mpox can be fatal.
There are two main known strains of the virus. The milder one caused a global outbreak in 2022, affecting Europe, Australia, the United States and many other countries, and is mainly spread through sexual contact.
The second, more deadly strain is prevalent in Central Africa and is a new variant recently discovered in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Three vaccines are available, but they are usually only given to people at high risk or who have had close contact with an infected person.
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