Zimbabwe is the latest country to report cases of mpox, the first in its history. Two people, an 11-year-old boy and a 24-year-old man, are known to have been infected, both with recent travel history to other countries.

Addressing a press briefing, the director general of Africa CDC, Jean Kaseya, said this year 42,438 mpox cases have been recorded in 18 African countries. Some 3051 new cases were recorded in the past week, with new outbreaks reported in Zimbabwe and Zambia.

Zimbabwe has reported its first two cases of mpox, including in the nation’s capital, Harare, and in Mberengwa, a district located in the mineral-rich Midlands province.

Zimbabwe has confirmed its first two cases of mpox, the health ministry said on Sunday, without specifying which variant had been recorded.

Over the past week, Africa’s surge of new mpox cases continued, and the region passed a grim marker, with fatal cases passing 1,000 for the year amid several worrying developments, including spread to new countries and in crowded settings that include prisons and refugee camps.

Zimbabwe has confirmed its first two cases of mpox, days after Zambia reported its first case. The cases, whose variants have not been identified, were detected in people who were from or had