A new, deadlier strain of the monkeypox virus is spreading rapidly in the Democratic Republic of Congo and has spread to neighboring countries that have never reported monkeypox cases, including Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda.

Monkeypox is a zoonotic toxic disease caused by monkeypox virus (MPXV) infection, mainly manifested as fever, rash and enlarged lymph nodes. The disease is mainly prevalent in Central and West Africa. Since May 2022, a large number of monkeypox cases have been reported in some countries in non-endemic areas, and the person-to-person transmission has occurred.

According to the World Health Organization's latest global monkeypox trend report, as of June 2023, a total of 87,929 laboratory-confirmed cases and 1,095 suspected cases, including 146 deaths, have been reported. Although the World Health Organization has announced that the monkeypox epidemic no longer constitutes a public health emergency of international concern, monkeypox is still spreading.