Africa faces acute mpox outbreak as cases surpass 50,000

 The African continent is still in the acute phase of the mpox outbreak as the number of cases reported so far this year surpassed the 50,000 mark, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) has warned.

   During an online media briefing Thursday evening, Africa CDC Director-General Jean Kaseya said 19 African countries have reported 50,840 mpox cases, with 10,741 confirmed and 1,083 deaths since the start of this year. During last week alone, the continent reported 2,532 new cases, including 345 confirmed cases and 32 new deaths.

   Data from the African Union’s specialized healthcare agency show that the number of confirmed mpox cases in Africa has surged by over 545 percent this year compared to the total of last year. It said the Central Africa region is the most affected by the outbreak, accounting for 85.8 percent of all reported cases and 99.4 percent of deaths.

   “We are still in the acute phase of the outbreak and that is pushing us to redouble our efforts to control the mpox outbreak in Africa,” Kaseya said.

   He said the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Burundi, the two worst hit countries by the outbreak, accounted for 86.7 percent of all new confirmed cases reported during the past week.

   Expressing concern over the recent increase in mpox cases in Uganda as the country continued to record weekly increase of confirmed cases, the Africa CDC chief said 14 African countries have active transmission of the mpox virus.

   He said four African countries, Cameroon, Gabon, Guinea, and South Africa, have not reported any confirmed cases in the past six weeks. He underscored that while some countries have not reported cases for consecutive weeks, they remain at risk due to cross-border transmission.

   Kaseya also expressed concern over the impact of comorbidity, the simultaneous presence of two or more diseases or medical conditions in a patient, as mpox mortality is closely associated with HIV, especially in cases where HIV is poorly managed and recently diagnosed.

   “Comorbidity is playing a key role as we saw deaths in Uganda and Kenya recently, and also the two deaths we had in South Africa are linked to HIV. That is why we are promoting double testing of mpox and HIV,” he said.

   Mpox, known as monkeypox, was first detected in laboratory monkeys in 1958. It is a rare viral disease typically spread through body fluids, respiratory droplets, and other contaminated materials. The infection usually causes fever, rash, and swollen lymph nodes. Xinhua