WHO Voices Concern Over Monkeypox Outbreak in DRC

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is facing a worsening monkeypox outbreak, with 25,318 suspected cases and 1,204 deaths reported since December 2022, Xinhua reported yesterday citing the World Health Organization (WHO).

So far in 2024, there have been 5,133 suspected cases and 321 deaths, primarily affecting younger populations, the source mentioned.

The DRC’s health minister, Roger Kamba, has called it “a real public health problem” that has become “a regional threat and ultimately a global problem,”, urging for mobilization of resources to address the crisis.  

Monkeypox, first detected in laboratory monkeys in 1958, is assumed to be transmitted from wild animals such as rodents to people, or from human to human.