"MPox is not over, there is an increasing trend in some countries that requires a renewed commitment to a stronger and more united front against the disease," warned the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), at a conference of the 'online' press.
Of the countries that have recorded outbreaks on the continent, ten are currently in the "active phase", including the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRCongo), a neighboring nation of Angola, which remains the epicenter of the epidemic and the country with the lowest screening rate on the continent. .
The Central African region accounts for 88.7 percent of infections and 89.5 percent of deaths, according to the Africa CDC.
Epidemiologist Ngashi Ngongo, Chief of the Executive Office of the Africa CDC, explained that 91 percent of all confirmed cases in the DR Congo are concentrated in the provinces of Kinshasa, North Kivu and South Kivu, due to their high population density and more difficult access. to health services, and assured that, in the coming weeks, the response will be intensified in these regions to achieve stabilization of the epidemic.
"As we move forward, the response will be intensified in these most affected provinces (...) to ensure that by the end of February or beginning of March we can see a positive trend, that is, a stabilization or, if not, the beginning of taking control of the situation" in the DR Congo, Ngongo said.
Additionally, there are concerns about the detection of cases in new countries, such as Sierra Leone, which reported its first infection on the 10th and now has a total of 12 confirmed cases.
“The country faces several challenges, the most important being limited funding to support the mpox response, but also the availability of testing kits and the absence of vaccines,” explained Ngongo.
Meanwhile, 11 countries are in the so-called "controlled phase", including four - South Africa, Gabon, Morocco and Zimbabwe - that have not reported any new cases in the past 90 days.
"We continue to see an upward trend in some countries like Uganda, but the stagnation in countries like Burundi, which are some of the worst affected, is also an element that gives us a lot of hope," said the epidemiologist.
Three countries began vaccinating last year - DR Congo, Rwanda and Nigeria - and six others have already received doses.
However, so far, only the Central African Republic, which received 2,300 doses of the 12,300 allocated, has started the vaccination campaign, on January 18. Uganda, which received them on Tuesday, is preparing to start implementing them.
The other countries on the continent are still waiting for the allocation and shipment of the medicines.
The AU's public health agency declared mpox a continental public health emergency on 13 August 2024, and the following day the World Health Organization (WHO) announced an international health alert for the disease.
The WHO alert refers to the rapid spread and high mortality in Africa of the new variant (clade Ib), of which several cases have been identified outside the continent in people who have traveled to areas of Africa where the virus circulates intensely.
In Europe, the most recent confirmed case was in France, at the beginning of the year, in the capital of Brittany, Rennes.
This variant differs from clade II, which caused a violent outbreak in Africa in 2022, as well as hundreds of cases in Europe, North America and countries in other regions, and which led to the declaration of an international health emergency between 2022 and 2023.
Mpox is an infectious disease that can cause a painful rash, swollen lymph nodes, fever, headaches, muscle aches, back pain, and lack of energy.
