Mpox: 47 countries reported 3,924 cases, 30 deaths in July, says WHO report
New Delhi, Aug 29 (IANS/WISHAVWARTA):- Mpox continues to be a global health risk, with 47 countries reporting a total of 3,924 confirmed cases, including 30 deaths in July, according to a report by the World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday.
The situation report, for the multi-country outbreak of mpox in July, showed that all clades of monkeypox virus (MPXV) continue to circulate in several countries.
“When mpox outbreaks are not rapidly contained and human-to-human transmission is not interrupted, they continue to pose a risk of sustained community transmission,” the report said.
In July, Senegal reported mpox for the first time. Efforts to identify the clade are underway. Türkiye also reported cases of mpox due to clade Ib MPXV for the first time, and the Democratic Republic of Congo has reported its first cases of mpox due to clade IIb MPXV.
Further, the South-East Asian and Western Pacific regions reported an increase in cases in July, while the African Region, European Region, and the Region of the Americas reported a decrease. The Eastern Mediterranean Region did not report any mpox cases in July, the WHO said.
“Twenty-one countries in Africa have reported ongoing mpox transmission in the past six weeks. Clade IIb MPXV continues to be reported in West Africa, while Central African countries report both clade Ia and clade Ib MPXV, and East African countries report clade Ib MPXV,” the report said.
Notably, the recent overall downward trend of confirmed cases across the continent is driven by the decline in cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sierra Leone, and Uganda.
Kenya continues to experience community transmission and has been observing a gradual upward trend in confirmed cases reported throughout 2025. Cases continue to be reported primarily among young adults, and all but one death has been reported among people living with HIV.
Meanwhile, countries like China, Germany, Türkiye, and the United Kingdom have reported additional cases of mpox due to clade Ib MPXV since June. These cases have been linked to travel, and community transmission of clade Ib MPXV continues to be reported only in countries in central and eastern Africa, the WHO report said.
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