The World Health Organisation has declared an mpox outbreak in parts of Africa, killing 450 people during an initial outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The highly contagious disease was formerly known as monkeypox.
According to WHO, it has now spread across parts of central and east Africa, and scientists are concerned about how fast a new variant of the disease is spreading and its high fatality rate.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus says the potential for further spread within Africa and beyond is very worrying.
He says a coordinated international response is essential to stop this outbreak and save lives.
He stresses that mpox is transmitted through close contacts, such as sex, skin-to-skin contact, and talking or breathing close to another person and it causes flu-like symptoms, and skin lesions and can be fatal, with four in 100 cases leading to death.
Source: BBC
