"There has been a decrease in both reported and confirmed cases," epidemiologist Ngashi Ngongo, chief of the Executive Office of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), told an online press conference.
"Sierra Leone is the country that contributes the most to the cases that are being recorded, especially among those confirmed in the laboratory. 74 percent of the cases reported (this week) are from Sierra Leone," Ngongo detailed.
To support efforts against the disease in that country, the Africa CDC plans to send a team of ten epidemiologists and 200 community health workers to the field.
According to the agency's most recent data, Africa has recorded a total of 139,000 cases of mpox (34,824 laboratory-confirmed) and 1788 deaths (186 laboratory-confirmed as having been a direct consequence of mpox) since the beginning of 2024.
The epicenter remains the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRCongo), a neighboring country of Angola.
On May 26, Ethiopia registered its first case since the outbreak began in Africa last year and has since reported three laboratory-confirmed infections and no deaths.
"We have to be very firm and aggressive to control this outbreak from the source and thus prevent it from spreading beyond the Oromia region (central, western and southern Ethiopia)," the epidemiologist said.
Ngongo made an "urgent" appeal for more vaccine donations to secure the 6.4 million doses that the Africa CDC estimates will be needed by August this year, while 1.4 million doses have already been sent to the continent so far.
According to the expert, around 220,000 doses of the offer announced by the United States of America are awaiting authorization to be sent, while the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) is seeking funding to be able to supply another package of around 350,000 doses.
In addition, doses of the Japanese vaccine LC16 are expected to arrive in the DR Congo in the coming days, after the Japanese government committed to sending three million to the country.
On August 13, the AU public health agency declared mpox a public health emergency of continental security, and the following day, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced an international health alert for the disease.
Mpox is an infectious disease that can cause painful skin rashes, swollen lymph nodes, fever, headache, muscle aches, back pain and lack of energy.
