Mpox (previously known as monkeypox) is caused by an infection with the monkeypox virus. The monkeypox virus is classified into two clades. This being clade I, identified as the Congo Basin clade, and clade II, formerly referred to as the West African clade. Clade II is further subdivided into clade IIa and clade IIb.
There has been a global mpox outbreak that has been ongoing since 2022 and has spread to more than 100 countries. This outbreak is associated with the clade II mpox sub-lineage. There have been 95 912 mpox cases documented from 118 countries for the period 01 January 2022 to 08 May 2024. As of 31 March 2024, the total number of deaths reported from the outbreak was 185 from all six World Health Organization (WHO) regions, with 139 deaths reported from the Region of the Americas alone.
