A map by the World Health Organization (WHO) shows the provinces in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) where cases of mpox are on the rise as U.S. Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issues a travel health notice.
Mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, is a rare disease caused by infection with the mpox virus. There are two types of mpox virus, Clade I and Clade II. In 2022, there was an mpox outbreak from Clade II, which was largely transmitted through sexual contact and mainly affected men who have sex with men.
While the CDC said that cases of Clade I have yet to be reported in the United States, the agency warned of the possibility of Clade I in travelers who have visited the DRC. Clade I is typically more infectious and leads to more severe infections than Clade II. The WHO reported that the number of mpox cases and number of provinces reporting mpox in the DRC have increased in recent years. A total of 22 out of 26 provinces have reported cases of mpox as of November, the WHO warns. The most heavily impacted province in the DRC is Tshuapa, with more than 200 confirmed cases from January 1, 2023, to October 7, 2023, according to a map by the WHO. Tshopo is the second-most impacted province, with between 101 and 200 confirmed cases in the same time period. South-Ubangi, Équateur, and Mai-Ndombe have seen from 21 to 100 cases.