Africa’s top public health agency has taken action in response to an outbreak of MPOX that has spread from the Democratic Republic of Congo to neighbouring countries.
The African Union’s health watchdog has declared a public health emergency following the spread of MPOX on the continent, saying the move was a “clarion call for action.”
“With heavy hearts and unwavering commitment to our people, the citizens of Africa, I am declaring MPOX a public health emergency for the security of the continent,” Jean Kaseya, director of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), said in an online press conference on Tuesday.
“Mukurozi has now crossed borders, affecting thousands of people across the continent, families torn apart and pain and suffering felt in every corner of the continent,” he said.
According to CDC data as of August 4, since January 2022, 38,465 MPOX cases and 1,456 deaths have been reported in Africa.
“This declaration is not just a formality, it is a clarion call to action. It is a recognition that we can no longer afford to be passive. We must work proactively and aggressively to contain and eliminate this threat,” Kaseya said.
Mpox is transmitted through close contact and causes a rash, flu-like symptoms, and pus-filled lesions. Most cases are mild, but it can be fatal. The disease can be dangerous for children, pregnant women, and people with weakened immune systems.
The epidemic is raging in several African countries, particularly the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where the virus was first detected in humans in 1970.
The outbreak, which has spread to neighbouring countries, began with the spread of an endemic strain known as lineage 1. But the new variant, known as lineage 1b, appears to spread more easily through close casual contact.
The Africa CDC warned last week of the alarming speed at which the virus is spreading: More than 15,000 MPOX cases and 461 deaths have been reported on the continent so far this year, a 160 percent increase compared to the same period last year.
In 2022, a milder form of the virus spread to more than 100 countries, mainly through sexual contact, leading the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare it a “Public Health Emergency of International Concern,” the highest level of alert.
Ten months later, the WHO ended the health emergency, saying the crisis was under control.
The WHO said on Tuesday in Geneva that its emergency committee would discuss the spread of the new lineage, or variant, on Wednesday and deliberate whether a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) should be declared.
This type of emergency was declared in 2020 in response to the coronavirus pandemic and in 2022 following an earlier MPOX outbreak. Their purpose is to alert health authorities about an increase in cases.
