Congo's humanitarian crisis helped mpox spiral again into a global health emergency

A humanitarian crisis in eastern Congo is contributing to mpox outbreaks there and elsewhere in Africa that have been deemed a global health emergency by the World Health Organization. Congo has recorded more than 96% of the world's mpox cases this year, and the new variant that was discovered in the country's east this year has been detected in four other African countries where mpox was never reported before. Sweden reported its first case this week. One expert says the Congo crisis, where millions have been displaced by conflict and are out of the reach of health services, has almost every possible complication when it comes to stopping an outbreak.