Africa has witnessed a troubling surge in Mpox cases, recording 107 deaths and 3,160 infections in just one week, despite a recently launched response plan by the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO).
The situation has prompted urgent calls for enhanced cross-border surveillance to combat the escalating outbreak.
At a press conference on Friday, director-general of Africa CDC,Dr. Jean Kaseya expressed deep concern over the mounting death toll. He emphasised the pressing need for better surveillance and testing across the continent.
“In just one week, the continent lost 107 lives. This is unacceptable,” Kaseya said. “Africa cannot rely solely on confirmed cases to make decisions and mount a response.”
He highlighted the inadequacy of current testing capacities and urged African countries to significantly improve testing and data collection. “We need robust cross-border surveillance and increased testing resources. Without these, our response and decision-making will remain ineffective,” he warned.
Kaseya also revealed plans to travel to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to oversee the vaccine rollout, scheduled for early October. “I will personally receive the vaccine to demonstrate its safety to both the African and Congolese people,” he added, aiming to build public confidence in the vaccination campaign.
During the briefing, Kaseya shared significant data, noting that men had a 63% positivity rate for Mpox, while children under 15 years old recorded a 41% positivity rate. He further cautioned that Mpox could be transmitted from mother to child during pregnancy.
“The Mpox virus is related to smallpox, but it causes milder symptoms, including fever, chills and body aches. In severe cases, patients may develop lesions on the face, hands, chest, and genitals,” he explained, underscoring the potential seriousness of the infection.
In response to the outbreak, the Africa CDC and WHO have rolled out a six-month joint response plan with an estimated budget of nearly $600 million. The plan focuses on three main pillars: surveillance, laboratory testing and community engagement.
Kaseya acknowledged contributions from African Union member states toward the response plan’s budget, calling it a positive step toward continental health security. However, he also expressed concern that the current vaccine supply might be insufficient to contain the outbreak.
“Although 250,000 vaccine doses have already been delivered to the DRC, we need over three million doses to end the outbreak there,” he said. The DRC has emerged as the global epicentre of the Mpox emergency.
The European Union has pledged to donate more than 500,000 doses, while additional contributions from the United States and Japan bring the total number of pledged doses to several million. However, the delivery timeline remains uncertain.
“The recommended vaccination involves two doses, and this could further stretch the limited vaccine supply,” Kaseya noted, emphasising the need for more substantial international support.
As of now, Africa CDC has reported 5,731 confirmed Mpox cases and 724 deaths since the start of the year. In the DRC alone, the Ministry of Health has recorded nearly 22,000 cases and 716 deaths since January.
Earlier in August, WHO director-general, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus noted that while Mpox cases were rising rapidly, the death rate had remained relatively low until recently. However, the sudden increase in both infections and fatalities led the WHO to declare the Mpox outbreaks in 12 African member states a global health emergency.
In addition to the DRC, other African countries have reported significant numbers of Mpox cases, with Guinea recently confirming its first case. The virus has also spread beyond Africa, with cases reported in countries such as Pakistan, the Philippines, Sweden and Thailand.
The WHO declared Mpox a global public health emergency on August 14, 2024, following the emergence of the new Clade 1b strain, which has contributed to the surge in cases. With the outbreak continuing to escalate, health authorities across Africa and beyond are under increasing pressure to respond swiftly and effectively.
