De l’émergence du mpox en République démocratique du Congo aux urgences sanitaires globales

For a long time neglected, the mpox virus has caused two public health emergency declarations by the World Health Organization in just two years. Rapid detection and characterization of the viral strains involved are crucial for better control of the disease. Recent work on viral genome sequencing in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has shown the emergence in 2023 of clade Ib, with sustained human-to-human transmission and rapid spread to several other non-endemic neighboring countries, as well as outside Africa. On the other hand, variants of clade Ia, which is predominant in the DRC and associated with zoonotic transmission, are beginning to emerge in large urban areas such as Kinshasa. The observed adaptation to humans raises concerns about the exportation and globalization of the epidemic.