Map Shows Where Deadly Mpox Cases Are Rising as CDC Issues Warning

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.

Newsweek reached out to WHO via email and the CDC via online form for comment.

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 has seen from 21 to 100 cases.

The DRC has reported 12,569 suspected mpox cases and 581 deaths since January 1, according to the CDC, which said: “This is a substantial increase from the median 3,767 suspected mpox cases reported annually in DRC during the years 2016-2021.” Clade I was confirmed among cases where testing was involved.

The CDC’s map of confirmed and suspected cases expands on the data shown in the map created by the WHO. In the CDC’s map, the provinces of Ituri, Nord-Kivu, Sud-Kivu, Lomami and Lualaba have also been affected by the outbreak.

What to Know About Mpox

Mpox typically infects people through contact with skin lesions or bodily fluids of infected animals or humans. Person-to-person transmission of the virus has occurred through sexual contact, household contact and in a health care setting.

Symptoms of mpox usually include rash, headache, muscle aches, swollen lymph nodes and fever, although fever is not always present in those infected.

Mpox is a potentially fatal disease, the CDC warns, but there is a vaccine for the virus. The vaccine is recommended for people with certain risk factors, including men who have sex with men, those who are transgender, gender non-binary or gender-diverse, or people who have had sexual or intimate contact with someone who may have mpox.