WHO Reports Nearly 14,700 Monkeypox Cases in Africa

The World Health Organization (WHO) has recorded approximately 14,700 confirmed cases of monkeypox, including 66 deaths, across 20 African countries from January 2024 to January 5, 2025.

According to the WHO, the confirmed cases represent only a fraction of the suspected cases. The organization previously stated that many suspected monkeypox cases go untested and, therefore, unconfirmed, particularly in countries like the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) due to limited diagnostic capacity.

The WHO noted that the continued spread of the disease is attributed to the diversity of virus types, including the “Clade LB” variant, which primarily spreads in the DRC and neighboring countries.

Imported cases linked to travel and secondary transmissions outside Africa have also been reported. These cases predominantly involve adults who traveled during the disease’s incubation period or exhibited early symptoms and were diagnosed upon arriving in other countries.

The “Clade LB” variant was first identified in South Kivu, an eastern province of the DRC. According to a previous WHO report, it is estimated to have emerged in mid-September 2023.