Since January, 42,000 cases of mpox have been recorded in eighteen African countries. The epidemic is on the verge of becoming “out of control” if no measures are taken, warns the African Union health agency.
Some 1,100 people have died from mpox in Africa, the African Union health agency said on Thursday, which warned that the epidemic was on track to become “out of control” if no action is taken. A total of 42,000 cases have been recorded in Africa since January, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said, with some first reported in Zambia and Zimbabwe. This brings to 18 the number of African countries where mpox has been officially detected this year. “Eighteen countries are too many, we cannot continue like this”. “As you can see this week, week 40, we have 1,100 deaths reported in total”said Jean Kaseya, head of the Africa CDC, during an online press conference.
“Mpox will spiral out of control if we don’t act”he warned, once again urging international partners to immediately release the funds promised to fight the epidemic. The majority of deaths have occurred in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the epicenter of the outbreak, which launched a vaccination campaign earlier this month. However, across the continent there are still “more new cases week after week”he lamented. “We now want to see concrete actions on the ground to end this epidemic”he said. Mpox, previously called monkeypox, is a viral disease that spreads from animals to humans but is also transmitted between humans during prolonged physical contact, causing fever, muscle pain and skin lesions.
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