Africa's migratory epidemic of Mpox: implications for continued public health surveillance and control

The emergence of Mpox, a disease caused by a new clade 1 Mpox virus (1b MPXV) in a remote village of South Kivu Province, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in late 2023 instigated a gradual regionalised spread and surge of cases in neighbouring countries of Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Kenya. The rapid regional spread, despite the comparatively low mortality, prompted the World Health Organization (WHO) and Africa Centres for Disease Prevention and Control (ACDC) to separately declare Mpox a public health emergency of International and Continental Concern.