The African Union’s health watchdog on Thursday warned that mpox outbreak was still not under control and appealed for resources to avoid a “more severe” pandemic than Covid-19.
More than 1,100 people have died of mpox in Africa, where some 48,000 cases have been recorded since January, according to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC).
Indeed, the disease is spreading rapidly across Africa, with cases jumping up by more than 500% compared to last year, according Africa CDC.
The World Health Organisation saw this threat as so serious that they declared Mpox a global health emergency in mid-August after scientists discovered a new version of the virus spreading from the Democratic Republic of Congo to nearby countries.
Cases were still increasing in several countries as the continent struggled to contain another major outbreak coming at the heels of Covid-19 that exposed Africa’s weak health system.
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“The situation is not yet under control. We are still on the upward trend generally,” Ngashi Ngongo, Africa CDC chief of staff and head of the executive office told an online briefing.
So far, 19 countries in Africa have reported cases of mpox after an infection was detected in Mauritius, a magnet for tourists attracted to its stunning white beaches and crystal-clear waters.
The situation was particularly worrying in Uganda which reported its first death from the virus this week.
Yet the funds to contain the outbreak were in short supply, Africa CDC warned.
“What we need is the continuous political and financial mobilisation,” Ngongo said, adding that it was necessary measure to stop mpox from being another pandemic “which would be much more severe than Covid-19”.
Mpox, previously known as monkeypox, is caused by a virus transmitted to humans by infected animals but can also be passed from human to human through close physical contact.
The viral disease related to smallpox causes fever, body aches, swollen lymph nodes and a rash that forms into blisters, and has two main subtypes — clade 1 and clade 2.
The United Kingdom announced on Wednesday that it had detected the country’s first case with the latest mpox variant, clade 1b.
The majority of deaths have been in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the epicentre of the outbreak, which launched a vaccination drive earlier this month.
