Africa’s top public health body declared what it termed a “public health emergency of continental security” on Tuesday over an outbreak of mpox that has spread from the Democratic Republic of Congo to neighbouring countries.
The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) had warned last week of an alarming rate of spread of the viral infection, which is transmitted through close contact and causes flu-like symptoms and pus-filled lesions.
The health body said that more than 15,000 mpox cases and 461 deaths were reported on the continent this year so far, representing a 160% increase from the same period last year. A total of 18 countries have reported cases.Mpox has been endemic in parts of Africa for decades after it was first detected in humans in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1970.
A milder version of the virus spread to more than a hundred countries in 2022, largely through sexual contact, prompting the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare a public health emergency of international concern, its highest level of alert.
