September 13, 2024 Issue

A patient is tested for mpox at Nyiragongo General Referral Hospital, north of Goma, on August 17—days after the World Health Organization declared the virus a public health emergency. Congo has had around 17,794 reported cases since the beginning of 2024. Cases have also been identified in Sweden and Thailand. Despite the warnings, WHO director Hans Kluge stressed that mpox is “not the next COVID.”