By XINHUA

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The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has so far recorded 16,700 confirmed or suspected cases of Mpox, including more than 570 deaths, Health Minister Roger Kamba said on Monday.

In December 2022, the DRC declared a national outbreak of Mpox, prompting the establishment of an incident management system in February 2023 based on the increasing number of reported cases.

The disease, affecting 17 African countries and several others outside the continent, is impacting younger populations, particularly children under 15, said Kamba, describing this as a "novelty" in the context of the outbreak.

"But I remind you that the vaccine is only part of the response; the first line of defence is adherence to preventive measures," said the minister, adding that the country would receive a batch of Mpox vaccines next week.

He added that the government's interventions have helped prevent a larger-scale spread within the country.

The World Health Organization (WHO) last week declared Mpox a public health emergency of international concern, raising alarms about its potential for increased global transmission, following an initial announcement on July 23, 2022.

The WHO's declaration came after the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that the ongoing Mpox outbreak constitutes a public health emergency for the continent.

According to the African Union's health agency, the number of new Mpox cases reported in 2024 represents a 160 percent increase compared to the same period in 2023.

According to the WHO, the current outbreak, spreading from the DRC, has been exacerbated by the emergence of a more lethal new variant of the virus, Clade 1b, which has a mortality rate estimated at 3.6 percent, significantly higher than previous strains.