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WHO Warns All Mpox Strains Continue Circulating Worldwide
(MENAFN) The World Health Organization (WHO) has issued an urgent alert that every identified mpox strain continues circulating worldwide, heightening fears of entrenched community spread unless rapid containment measures succeed, as a novel variant designated clade Ib now extends its reach beyond African borders.
Fresh surveillance data from the WHO's latest situation report documents 3,135 laboratory-confirmed mpox infections and 12 fatalities across 42 nations throughout September 2025, yielding a case fatality ratio (CFR) of 0.4%. The African Region accounts for more than 80% of documented cases.
Seventeen African countries have seen ongoing transmission in the past six weeks, with 2,862 confirmed cases and 17 deaths (CFR 0.6%), the report said. The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Liberia, Kenya, and Ghana logged the highest infection numbers, with Kenya and Liberia experiencing upward trajectories while Congo witnessed declining figures.
"Four regions (African Region, Eastern Mediterranean Region, Region of the Americas, and the Western Pacific) observed a declining trend in confirmed cases reported per month, while the European and South-East Asian regions observed an increase in cases in September 2025," the report found.
Since the last edition of this report, Malaysia, Namibia, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain have reported detection of clade Ib monkeypox virus (MPXV) "for the first time."
New imported cases of mpox due to clade Ib MPXV detected among travelers have been reported in Belgium, Canada, Germany, Italy, Qatar, and Spain, according to the report.
WHO confirmed that six countries beyond Central and East Africa—Italy, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and the US—now demonstrate indigenous transmission of clade Ib mpox, with infections identified in individuals lacking recent international travel history.
At least five recent cases of clade Ib mpox were reported among men with same-sex partners, marking the first evidence of this strain circulating within that group.
WHO currently assesses the public health risk as moderate for men with same-sex partners and low for the general population outside historically endemic areas.
"When mpox outbreaks are not rapidly contained and human-to-human transmission is not interrupted, there is a risk of sustained community transmission," the agency said.
Fresh surveillance data from the WHO's latest situation report documents 3,135 laboratory-confirmed mpox infections and 12 fatalities across 42 nations throughout September 2025, yielding a case fatality ratio (CFR) of 0.4%. The African Region accounts for more than 80% of documented cases.
Seventeen African countries have seen ongoing transmission in the past six weeks, with 2,862 confirmed cases and 17 deaths (CFR 0.6%), the report said. The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Liberia, Kenya, and Ghana logged the highest infection numbers, with Kenya and Liberia experiencing upward trajectories while Congo witnessed declining figures.
"Four regions (African Region, Eastern Mediterranean Region, Region of the Americas, and the Western Pacific) observed a declining trend in confirmed cases reported per month, while the European and South-East Asian regions observed an increase in cases in September 2025," the report found.
Since the last edition of this report, Malaysia, Namibia, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain have reported detection of clade Ib monkeypox virus (MPXV) "for the first time."
New imported cases of mpox due to clade Ib MPXV detected among travelers have been reported in Belgium, Canada, Germany, Italy, Qatar, and Spain, according to the report.
WHO confirmed that six countries beyond Central and East Africa—Italy, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and the US—now demonstrate indigenous transmission of clade Ib mpox, with infections identified in individuals lacking recent international travel history.
At least five recent cases of clade Ib mpox were reported among men with same-sex partners, marking the first evidence of this strain circulating within that group.
WHO currently assesses the public health risk as moderate for men with same-sex partners and low for the general population outside historically endemic areas.
"When mpox outbreaks are not rapidly contained and human-to-human transmission is not interrupted, there is a risk of sustained community transmission," the agency said.
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