"We are very pleased with the arrival of this first batch of vaccines in the DRC," Jean Kaseya, head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, told AFP, adding that more than 99,000 doses were expected.

The vast central Africa country of around 100 million people is at the epicentre of the mpox outbreak, with cases and deaths rising.

More than 17,500 cases and 629 deaths have been reported in the country since the start of the year, according to the World Health Organization.

"We thank the European Union, through the European Health Emergency Response Authority, for immediately responding to our call for solidarity," Kaseya said.

The WHO declared an international emergency over mpox on August 14, concerned by the surge in cases of the new Clade 1b strain in the DRC that spread to nearby countries.

In Africa, mpox is now present in 13 countries, including Burundi, Congo-Brazzaville and the Central African Republic, according to figures from the Africa CDC dated August 27.

Outside the continent, the virus has also been detected in Sweden, Pakistan and the Philippines.

Formerly called monkeypox, the virus was discovered in 1958 in Denmark, in monkeys kept for research.

It was first discovered in humans in 1970 in what is now the DRC.

Mpox is caused by a virus transmitted to humans by infected animals but can also be passed from human to human through close physical contact.

The disease causes fever, muscular aches and large boil-like skin lesions.