Mpox outbreak claims over 850 lives in Africa, remains uncontrolled

A total of 866 people have died from mpox in Africa since the beginning of the year, according to the latest figures released on Thursday by the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC).

The health agency emphasised that “the epidemic is not under control” on the continent.

Since January, 34,297 cases have been recorded across the five African regions, the African Union’s health agency reported. Mpox has been officially detected in 16 African countries.

“The epidemic is not under control,” Dr Jean Kaseya, director general of Africa CDC, stressed during a press conference.

He noted that about 2,500 new cases are being recorded weekly in recent weeks, criticising the fact that the rate of laboratory testing to confirm the presence of the disease remains “very low”.

Health authorities in Ghana announced on Thursday that the country had recorded its first mpox case this year.

The patient, a young boy in a northwestern region of the country, about 475 kilometres from the capital Accra, is showing symptoms of the virus, particularly skin lesions, fever and body aches, explained Patrick Kuma-Aboagye, director-general of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), in a press release.

While the child has been discharged from hospital and his condition is described as stable, authorities have identified and placed 25 people who came into contact with him under surveillance.

“The suspected mpox case was isolated according to disease management protocols,” Kuma-Aboagye said.

Approximately 230 other suspected cases are under surveillance in the West African country, GHS sources told AFP on Thursday.

Mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, is a viral infection transmitted from infected animals to humans, as well as between humans. It causes fever, muscle aches and skin lesions, particularly rashes, and can be fatal.

The new outbreak of mpox on the continent and the emergence of a new variant of the virus (clade 1b) prompted the WHO to declare the highest level of alert internationally in mid-August.

Clade 1b has been detected in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda, according to Africa CDC.

The start of the vaccination campaign in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the epicentre of the epidemic, which was initially scheduled to begin on Wednesday, has been postponed indefinitely by health authorities in the country. However, Dr Kaseya told reporters it is expected to begin in two days. Rwanda began vaccinations on September 17.