As mpox continues its swelling spread across the Democratic Republic of Congo, the World Health Organization is raising alarms of the possibility of an even more serious outbreak because of confirmed cases of sexual transmission, according to a recent report. Mpox is an infectious disease caused by the monkeypox virus that brings on a painful rash, enlarged lymph nodes and fever.
Between January 2023 and early November, over 12,500 people have been infected and around 581 deaths are estimated to have been caused by the virus in the country alone, according to the WHO. This spike marks the highest number of mpox cases recorded in the country since the initial discovery of human-to-human transmission more than 50 years ago, doubling case counts from 2020.
