18,000 Monkeypox Cases Reported in 13 African Countries This Year

African Union's health agency announced the registration of 18,000 cases of monkeypox ("Mpox") across 13 African countries this year.

According to a report by the BBC on Saturday, the agency noted that over 1,000 new cases were detected in just one week.

 This comes after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the monkeypox outbreak a global public health emergency last Wednesday.

A new strain of the virus, known as Clade 1, has caused hundreds of deaths in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. This strain is more lethal and more contagious than the one that spread in 2022.

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) has recommended that travelers planning to visit Central African countries affected by the virus should get vaccinated against it.

Additionally, the WHO has called on countries with stockpiles of monkeypox vaccines to donate them to nations experiencing outbreaks.

Monkeypox is a viral disease primarily found in tropical rainforest areas of Central and West Africa. It spreads through close contact with an infected person, an infected animal, or contaminated materials. Symptoms include fever, rash, and flu-like symptoms.