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Health officials in the northeastern Congolese city of Bunia confirmed a new laboratory-tested case of mpox on Friday, triggering fresh public health alarms.
The diagnosis involves a 21-year-old woman admitted to the hospital on Thursday with widespread body lesions.
Doctors immediately isolated her alongside a second woman, aged 32, who currently awaits test results for a suspected case.
The resurgence arrives while the Democratic Republic of Congo grapples with its worst recorded Ebola epidemic.
Centred in Ituri province—where Bunia is located—the Ebola outbreak has infected 7,890 people and claimed 3,799 lives since authorities declared the emergency on May 15.
Medical personnel in Bunia are actively tracing contacts and investigating five additional suspected mpox cases to determine the infection source.
Mpox spreads through close physical contact and causes symptoms such as fever and skin lesions.
Although Congo officially declared an end to its three-year mpox emergency in April after recording more than 34,000 cases, health experts warned that the virus could re-emerge.
Dr Adelard Lofungola, former deputy incident manager for the national mpox response, noted that the overwhelming burden of the ongoing Ebola response continues to severely strain regional health systems and hinder effective surveillance of emerging infections.
