Monrovia — Africa continues to experience an increase in Mpox cases with hundreds of new infections confirmed in the past week, the Africa Centres for Disease Control warned in its latest update. The Africa CDC said more than 20 countries in the region have reported cases since January, with the Democratic Republic of Congo remaining the most affected by the disease.

More than 13,000 cases were confirmed across the region, with 1,200 deaths. Nearly 35% of confirmed cases are children under the age of 15. The Africa CDC said it has intensified surveillance and testing in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo) to help stop the increasing spread of the disease.

Mpox has spread across all regions of Africa, with each presenting symptoms of the different "clades" that determine their rate of severity and virulence. Clade 1, for instance, "disproportionately" affects children.  In DR Congo, the continental health watchdog said around 87,6 percent of individuals "with Clade 1a are children," while Clade 1b impacts both children and adults.

" We are still losing people," Jean Kaseya, Africa CDC Director, said while lamenting the struggle they face with testing as they increase decentralization efforts.

New deaths are at 36, representing a sharp increase from the previous week of 22. Kaseya, however, said in the past six weeks, there was a marginal decrease in the percentage of confirmed deaths in the DR Congo.

The Africa CDC's director said mpox and measles are reporting the "same trend" in mainly two provinces in the DR Congo.  "Enhanced surveillance efforts for Mpox disease could be Inadvertently Improving the detection of Measles in these provinces."

Meanwhile, Congolese health officials are scrambling to identify an unknown illness, which presents with flu-like symptoms, that's killed more than 70 people. Occurring mostly in the south-western province of Kwango, the disease is said to have infected more than 300 people.