© Arlette Bashizi/REUTERSrisen by 79% from 2022-2023 and by 160% from 2023-24Africa's public health agency is set to declare an mpox emergency as early as next week, saying the viral infection's rate of spread is alarming, as a new variant moves across Democratic Republic of Congo's borders.The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) Director General, Jean Kaseya, said on Thursday that reportedhe said.Kaseya added he would have calls with the heads of the African Union (AU) and the African Union Commission on Tuesday to "get their blessing" and guidance. He said that most likely he would make the declaration next week.and would obligate member countries to notify new cases to the continental body, he said.It would also enable mobilisation of domestic and international resources andand development, Kaseya said, adding he had been in talks with executives of the German drugmakerafter the likely declaration next week.The World Health Organization (WHO) said Africa is experiencing an unprecedented rise in cases this year., the WHO's spokesperson in Congo told Reuters, taking the total number of cases there since the start of 2023 to about 27,000, with more than 1,000 deaths.To the, a WHO statement said. "Further analysis is required to better understand the patterns of transmission to refine the response to the outbreak," the U.N. agency said.The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a second health alert on Wednesday to notify clinicians and health departments about the deadly new strain.WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has promised to convene an emergency committee to discuss whether the outbreak in Congo represents a public health emergency of international concern.On Monday, Africa CDC said it had been granted $10.4 million in emergency funding from the AU for its mpox response.