Dakar: Mpox cases are rapidly increasing across the African continent, with a rise of more than 500% from last year, according to data released by the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) on Thursday.
In mid-August, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared mpox a global health emergency after a new strain began spreading from the Democratic Republic of Congo to neighboring countries.
“The situation is not yet under control; we are still generally on an upward trend,” said Ngashi Ngongo from Africa CDC during a briefing.
So far this year, 19 African countries have reported more than 48,000 suspected mpox cases, including 1,048 deaths, according to Africa CDC data.
Central Africa is the most affected region, accounting for 85.7% of cases and 99.5% of deaths on the continent.
Mpox is a virus that can spread through close physical contact, including sexual contact.
The new strain, known as clade Ib, is also spreading to Europe and has been detected in Sweden, Germany, and Britain.
“We need to continue mobilizing political engagement and financial support, which are critical to getting the current outbreak under control,” Ngongo emphasized.
“We do not want this mpox, especially clade Ib, to become another sexually transmitted pandemic, which would be much more severe than COVID-19.”
