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#Mpox Multi-country external #situation #report no. 62, published 23 January 2026 (#WHO, summary)

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By G.M.

 


Highlights

• All clades of monkeypox virus (MPXV) continue to circulate. 

- Unless mpox outbreaks are rapidly contained and human-to-human transmission is interrupted, there is a risk of sustained community transmission.  

• At the time of reporting, data from the WHO European Region for December 2025 had not yet been submitted; therefore, the information presented below does not include the European Region. 

• In December 2025, 31 countries across five WHO regions (European Region excluded) reported a total of 1040 new confirmed mpox cases, including six deaths (case fatality ratio [CFR] 0.6%). 

- Of these cases, 78% were reported in the African Region. 

- Four regions observed a decline in confirmed cases in December, compared to November 2025, while the Eastern Mediterranean Region reported more cases than the previous month.     

• Fifteen countries in Africa reported active transmission of mpox in the last six weeks (7 December 2025 – 18 January 2026), with 871 confirmed cases, including five deaths (CFR 0.6%). 

- Countries reporting the highest number of cases in this period are the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Guinea, Madagascar, Liberia and Ghana. 

• Four countries, Czechia, Israel, Madagascar and Nepal, and the territory of Mayotte, France, have reported mpox due to clade Ib MPXV for the first time.   

• Outside Africa, community transmission of clade Ib MPXV continues to be reported in France, Italy and Spain. 

- Investigations are ongoing for the case reported in Czechia.  

• Madagascar is reporting an active mpox outbreak, which began in early December 2025 among individuals without recent travel and quickly expanded across the country, which currently is experiencing community transmission of clade Ib MPXV.  

• WHO published ‘Analytical considerations for genomic surveillance of mpox virus’, outlining key considerations for implementing MPXV genomic surveillance, bringing together available evidence and expert input to support the use of pathogen genomics in public health surveillance and response.  

• The report also includes a phylogenetic analysis of MPXV sequences shared on open-source platforms, highlighting the main genetically distinct strains detected in each country since 2022. 

• WHO published the mpox global donor report on 21 January 2026, summarizing donor contributions and funding allocations during the PHEIC period of the mpox response (August 2024– September 2025) across key response priorities 

• On 22 January 2026, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention lifted the declaration of a Public Health Emergency of Continental Security for mpox.  

Source: 


Link: https://www.who.int/publications/m/item/multi-country-outbreak-of-mpox--external-situation-report--62---23-january-2026

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