KINSHASA, Aug 8 (Reuters) - Africa'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.

Mpox is transmitted through close contact and causes

flu-like symptoms and pus-filled lesions. Most cases are mild

but it can kill.

The new variant, known as Clade Ib and circulating mostly in

Congo, appears to spread more easily through routine close

contact, as seems to be the case among children.

The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention

(Africa CDC) Director General, Jean Kaseya, said on Thursday

that reported cases in Africa had risen by 79% from 2022-2023

and by 160% from 2023-24.

"This is one of the aspects that is alarming us," he 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 to declare a public health

emergency - a new power for the continental body. He said that

most likely he would make the declaration next week.

Doing so would enable the Africa CDC to better coordinate

cross-border responses 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 and accelerate vaccine research and

development, Kaseya said, adding he had been in talks with

executives of the German drugmaker BioNTech about

raising vaccine output after the likely declaration next week.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said Africa is

experiencing an unprecedented rise in cases this year.

Congo has seen over 13,000 suspected mpox cases including

503 deaths so far 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 east of Congo, Rwanda, Uganda and Kenya, which were

previously unaffected by mpox, have all reported cases of the

new variant since mid-July, 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.