KINSHASA, May 20 (Xinhua) -- At least 1,284 suspected cases of monkeypox and 58 deaths had been reported in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) by May 8, the World Health Organization (WHO) said Friday.

A section of skin tissue, harvested from a lesion on the skin of a monkey, that had been infected with monkeypox virus, is seen at 50X magnification on day four of rash development in 1968. (File photo)

The Congolese provinces of Sankuru, Tshopo, Equateur, and Tshuapa have recorded 913 cases, accounting for about 75 percent of suspected cases recorded across the country, tweeted the WHO office in the DRC.
Monkeypox is usually a mild self-limiting illness, spread by very close contact with someone with monkeypox, and most people recover within a few weeks.
Symptoms include fever, muscle pain, headache, swollen lymph nodes, fatigue and skin manifestations such as blisters.
According to media reports, a limited number of monkeypox cases have so far been reported in Britain, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and the United States.