Browsing: mpox cases Africa

• WHO’s move aims to galvanize a coordinated international response to contain and mitigate the spread of mpox.
• An uptick in cases, especially in Burundi, Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda, along with sporadic cases in Europe, prompted the WHO’s emergency declaration.
• Despite these concerns, mpox is not likely to evolve into a pandemic akin to COVID-19.

Last week, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared mpox (formerly known as monkeypox) a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. This decision underscores the escalating threat posed by the virus, which surged globally in 2022 but has since seen a troubling resurgence, particularly in Africa. The WHO’s move aims to galvanize a coordinated international response to contain and mitigate the spread of mpox, a virus with significant public health implications.

Mpox, a member of the same viral family as smallpox, is a rare but severe infection. It manifests through symptoms akin to chickenpox, including fevers, swollen …

• Suspected mpox cases across the continent have surged past 17,000—a sharp increase from 7,146 cases in 2022 and 14,957 cases in 2023.
• The disease has rapidly spread from the epicentre, DRC to at least 13 African countries, including nations previously unaffected such as Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda.
• Already, Africa CDC has entered into an alliance to provide over 215,000 doses of the MVA-BN® vaccine—the only Mpox vaccine approved by the FDA and EMA.

The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) has declared the ongoing Mpox outbreak as a Public Health Emergency of Continental Security (PHECS).

This declaration is the first of its kind since the agency’s establishment in 2017, marking a critical moment in Africa’s public health scene even as authorities step up measures to tackle an outbreak of this deadly disease.

Under the authority granted by Article 3, Paragraph F of the Africa CDC Statutes, …