The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) updated their travel notice for the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) due to a mpox, or monkeypox outbreak.
Officials say the outbreak is in in 25 out of 26 provinces, including urban areas. The exception is Haut-Lomami province.
Cumulatively, the DRC has seen 7,864 total cases (1,135 confirmed) since the beginning of the year, including 383 deaths (4.9% CFR).
Children under the age of 15 account for 68 percent of the cases and 85 percent of the deaths.
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More than seven out of 10 cases were reported in males, The clade 1 mpox strain was isolated from the confirmed cases.
CDC reports person-to-person transmission has occurred during this outbreak, including through sexual contact, household contact, and within the healthcare setting.
Travelers should:
Avoid close contact with sick people, including those with skin lesions or genital lesions.
Avoid contact with contaminated materials used by sick people (such as clothing, bedding, or materials used in healthcare settings) or that came into contact with infected animals.
Avoid contact with dead or live wild animals, such as small mammals including rodents (rats, squirrels) and non-human primates (monkeys, apes).
Avoid eating or preparing meat from wild game (bushmeat) or using products derived from wild animals from endemic countries throughout Central and West Africa (creams, lotions, powders).
Seek medical care immediately if you develop new, unexplained skin rash (lesions on any part of the body), with or without fever and chills, and avoid contact with others.
Tell your doctor if you traveled to the DRC within the last 21 days before developing symptoms.
If you are sick and could have mpox, follow isolation and infection control measures at home and during travel.
Mpox is a disease caused by infection with monkeypox virus. Mpox is endemic throughout Central and West Africa near forests.
People usually become infected with the monkeypox virus through contact with the skin lesions or bodily fluids of infected animals or humans (alive or dead), including respiratory droplets, or through contact with materials contaminated with the virus. Transmission also occurs through intimate contact, including sex, with an infected person.
Symptoms often include fever (≥100.4°F), rash, headache, muscle aches, and swollen lymph nodes. Fever is not always present. Lesions typically develop at the same time and evolve together on any given part of the body. Mpox is a potentially fatal disease.
There is a vaccine available for mpox.