The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) have raised concerns that the mpox outbreak across the continent remains uncontrolled, with infections still rising in several nations.
Following the identification of a new variant, the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern.
African countries are grappling with this latest health crisis, coming so soon after the COVID-19 pandemic, which exposed significant weaknesses in the region’s healthcare systems.
According to Africa CDC data, mpox cases have surged by 177%, while deaths have risen by 38.5% compared to the same time last year.
“We can say today that mpox is not under control in Africa. We still have this increase of cases that is worrying for all of us,” Jean Kaseya, director general of Africa CDC, told a weekly briefing on the outbreak.
In one week 2,912 new cases were reported compared with the previous week including a new country, Morocco, where a case was reported, confirming the spread of the disease in all four regions of the continent.
So far, 15 of the 55 member states of the African Union have reported cases, Africa CDC said.
“We still have people dying from mpox in Africa. In one week, we lost 14 people,” Kaseya added.
He noted that in countries like Cameroon and the Democratic Republic of Congo, two different strains of the disease were circulating. However, due to inadequate surveillance and testing capabilities, it is unclear whether this is also happening in other nations.
Kaseya mentioned that Rwanda has already initiated its vaccination campaign, while the Democratic Republic of Congo, the outbreak’s epicentre, is expected to begin vaccinations in early October.