Africa’s top health authority has declared an Mpox Outbreak a public health emergency on the continent.
Scientists from the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) are alarmed by the rapid spread of a new strain of the disease.
This year, over 15,000 mpox cases and 461 deaths have been reported in Africa, marking a 160% increase in cases and a 19% rise in deaths compared to the same period in 2023.
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Previously known as monkeypox, mpox has spread from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to 18 neighboring countries, with 96% of cases and deaths occurring in the DRC.
Nearly 70% of cases in the DRC involve children under 15, who also account for 85% of the deaths.
Mpox, which causes flu-like symptoms and pus-filled lesions, is usually mild but can be fatal. The disease spreads through close contact, including sexual contact, with the latest outbreak driven by an endemic strain known as Clade 1.
A new variant, Clade 1b, has emerged and appears to spread more easily through close contact, particularly among children. Jean Claude Udahemuka from the University of Rwanda described Clade 1b as “the most dangerous strain of mpox so far.”
Jean Kaseya, head of Africa CDC, declared the public health emergency on Tuesday, urging swift and decisive action. He stated that Africa needs over 10 million vaccine doses, but only about 200,000 are currently available, with plans to secure more starting in 2024.
In a report released on Monday, the World Health Organization (WHO) identified nine African countries where mpox cases have been reported in the past month. These countries are DR Congo, Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Central African Republic, Ivory Coast, South Africa, and Nigeria.
Mpox, which has been endemic in parts of Africa since it was first identified in humans in DR Congo in 1970, saw a milder strain spread to over 100 countries in 2022. This spread, primarily through sexual contact, led the WHO to declare a public health emergency of international concern.
In the UK, there were 2,137 confirmed cases, including 2,050 in England, shortly before the WHO’s global health emergency declaration on July 23, 2022. No deaths were reported in the UK during the outbreak. The WHO lifted the emergency status 10 months later, citing that the health crisis was under control.
