• The Mpox outbreak in the DRC, ongoing since 2023, has now spread to 23 of the 26 provinces of the country.

• The country is also struggling with outbreaks of cholera, measles, anthrax, and plague.

• The setting of massive floods and the world’s second-biggest human displacement has made the condition more difficult.

• The DRC outbreak, caused by the Clade 1 virus, differs from the globally circulating strain.

• It is more virulent and has a higher case-fatality rate (CFR)- a CFR of 7%, much higher than the global rate of 0.2%.

• It has sexual spread - involving heterosexual transmission.

• Two-thirds of those affected are children, with a higher CFR of 10%.

• Meanwhile, diagnostic challenges remain.

• Only 389 cases in DRC have been lab-confirmed, gene deletions affect the diagnostic abilities of other countries.

• There is a possibility of geographic extension, hence strict control measures are to be put in place.

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