Nearly 30,000 suspected mpox cases have been recorded since the start of the year in Africa, most in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where testing has ended, the World Health Organization (WHO) said.

More than 800 people died from mpox across the continent during that period, the WHO said in a report.

Congo’s neighbor in central Africa, Burundi, has also been hit by an intensifying outbreak of the disease, it added.

mpox is transmitted by close contact. It is usually mild, but in rare cases it can be fatal.

It most often causes flu-like symptoms and pus-filled blisters on the body.

The WHO announcement does not mention comparative data from previous years.

The African Union public health agency has reported 14,957 cases and 739 deaths from seven affected states in 2023, a 78.5% increase in new cases compared to 2022.

From January to September 15 this year, 29,342 suspected cases and 812 deaths were recorded across Africa, according to the WHO report.

A total of 2,082 confirmed cases were recorded worldwide in August alone, the highest number since November 2022, the WHO says.

On Saturday, the World Bank’s pandemic fund announced it would allocate $128.89 million to ten African countries to fight the outbreak.