Mpox testing coverage remains low in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) due to limited testing capacity, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported Saturday.
In its latest situation update, the UN health agency highlighted that the DRC, the epicenter of the international mpox emergency, faces significant challenges in testing suspected cases.
In 2024, the case fatality ratio in the DRC was 0.5% among confirmed cases, with 25 deaths out of 5,160 cases.
Among suspected cases, the fatality rate rose to 3.3%, with 717 deaths from 21,835 cases.
Testing access remains a key issue, with only 40% of suspected cases tested in 2024, compared to 9% in 2023.
Of those tested, 55% were confirmed positive.
The DRC, along with Burundi and Nigeria, reported the highest number of suspected cases in 2024.
The WHO noted that the new Clade 1b strain has spread across the DRC’s South Kivu, North Kivu, and Kinshasa provinces.
Global vaccine efforts continue, with over 3.6 million doses pledged.
The WHO stressed the need for tailored outbreak responses based on the varying clades affecting different regions.
