Guidance

Mpox: affected countries

This page provides an overview of mpox epidemiology, indicating where there may be a risk of clade I and clade II mpox exposure.

Global overview

There are 2 major genetic groups (clades) of MPXV, clade I (formerly known as Central African or Congo basin clade) and clade II (formerly known as West African clade). Clade I is split into clade Ia and clade Ib. Clade II is split into clade IIa and clade IIb, and all clades have subgroup clusters called lineages. The majority of the cases seen in the global outbreak which started in 2022 were from clade IIb, lineage B.1. The latest epidemiological data on mpox (all clades) can be found on the World Health Organization (WHO) mpox surveillance dashboard.

Figure 1. Geographic distribution of MPXV clades, by country, as of 13 March 2025 (adapted from the World Health Organization multi-country external situation report). The map is not indicative of ongoing outbreaks and is generated from available laboratory data associated with both travel-associated and locally acquired cases.

Table 1. Countries reporting the highest number of recent mpox cases (all clades). Adapted from WHO Global mpox trends, updated 2 March 2025. Data as of 31 January 2025

Country Cases in the past month Total confirmed cases Clades reported
Democratic Republic of the Congo 1,651 17,820 Clades Ia and Ib
Uganda 1,022 2,430 Clade Ib
Burundi 342 3,288 Clade Ib
Australia 90 1,644 Clade II
Brazil 63 13,579 Clades Ib and II
Germany 49 4,139 Clades Ib and II
China 41 2,847 Clades Ib and II
Spain 33 8,514 Clade II
United States 28 34,715 Clades Ib and II
Italy 22 1,109 Clade II

Clade I mpox outbreak: 2024 to 2025

On 14 August 2024, the WHO declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern in response to the upsurge of clade I mpox in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and a growing number of countries in the African Region. This outbreak remains ongoing, with evidence of sustained community transmission in several countries, as per Table 2.

Travel-associated clade I mpox cases outside the African Region have been reported in several countries. Whilst there is currently no evidence of sustained community transmission of clade I mpox outside of African Region countries, limited local transmission (for example, household transmission) has been reported in Belgium, China, France, Germany and the United Kingdom.

Figure 2. African region countries reporting laboratory confirmed clade I mpox (historic or current)

Mpox of an unknown clade has been reported in Gabon but is presumed to be clade I (due to case travel history).

Table 2. Countries with evidence of ongoing clade I mpox transmission or exportation during the 2024 to 2025 outbreak

Country Evidence of transmission Clade
Burundi Community transmission Ib
Central African Republic Community transmission Ia
Democratic Republic of the Congo Community transmission Ia and Ib
Gabon Community transmission I
Kenya Community transmission Ib
Republic of the Congo Community transmission Ia and Ib
Rwanda Community transmission Ib
South Sudan Unclear (historical community transmission) Ia
Tanzania Unclear (evidence of exported cases) Ib
Uganda Community transmission Ib
United Arab Emirates Unclear (evidence of exported cases) Ib
Zambia Community transmission Ib

Updates to this page

Published 14 October 2024
Last updated 17 March 2025 show all updates
  1. Updated to include clade II mpox and world map of mpox clade distribution.

  2. Added entries for Brazil and Qatar.

  3. Updated to reflect new cases since 14 February.

  4. Updated Zambia status.

  5. Added Republic of Ireland and a few other minor changes.

  6. Updated the list of affected countries.

  7. Tanzania added to Table 1. Updates added for travel-associated cases in Germany (URL also updated) and the UK.

  8. Belgium has been updated to reflect one new case reported in a household contact of their first imported case.

  9. Updated to include information for Belgium, China and France.

  10. Updated information for Gabon and added information for United Arab Emirates.

  11. Updated links and added Oman & Pakistan to list.

  12. Updated guidance.

  13. Updated information for imported clade I mpox cases in countries outside of the African region.

  14. First published.

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