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| | Human Monkeypox -- Kasai Oriental, Zaire, 1996-1997 |
 | | Monkeypox is an orthopoxvirus with enzootic circulation in rainforests of central and western Africa; the virus can be transmitted to humans and cause a syndrome clinically similar to smallpox (e.g., pustular rash, fever, respiratory symptoms, and in some cases, death). |
 | | From February through August 1996, a total of 71 clinical cases of monkeypox, including six deaths, occurred in 13 villages in Africa in the Katako-Kombe health zone (1996 combined population: 15,698), Sankuru subregion, Kasai Oriental, Zaire (Figure_1) (1). |
 | | The number of human monkeypox cases associated with the epidemic described in this report exceeded the total of 37 sporadic cases previously detected in the Sankuru subregion, Kasai Oriental region, by active surveillance activities during 1981-1986 (2). |
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