GENEVA, December 23. /TASS/. As many as 117,663 mpox cases and 263 fatalities from this disease were confirmed worldwide from January 2022 through late November 2024, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in its monthly bulletin.

According to the WHO, the number of mpox infections decreased by 13.2% in November as compared to October, with 2,726 new cases confirmed. Most of these cases - 71.2% - were reported in Africa, in particular in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi, and Uganda. Outside Africa, Australia reported an upsurge of mpox.

A global public health emergency over mpox was effective from July 2022 through May 11, 2023. It was lifted as the incidence of the disease decreased.

Mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, is a rare viral disease endemic to remote regions near tropical forests in Central and Western Africa. The first case of an animal transmitting the disease to humans was recorded in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1970. According to the WHO, this virus is usually transmitted to humans by wild animals, such as rodents and primates, while its secondary spread among humans is limited. Usually the lethality coefficient during mpox outbreaks ranges from 1% to 10% with the majority of fatalities affecting younger age groups.

Mpox is most often accompanied by a skin rash or mucosal lesions, which can last from two to four weeks. Additional symptoms include fever, headache, muscle aches, back pain, low energy and swollen lymph nodes.