The African Union health office said on Saturday that 18,737 suspected or confirmed cases of mpox have been reported in Africa since the year’s commencement, including 1,200 instances in a single week.
The number includes three viral strains, one of which is the recently discovered, more lethal, and more contagious Clade 1b, which caused the World Health Organization (WHO) to issue the highest alert—an international health emergency—on Wednesday.
According to a statement from the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 5,41 people have died as a result of the 3,101 confirmed and 15,636 suspected cases that have been reported from 12 African Union member states to date, translating to a fatality rate of 2.89 percent.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the nation most severely affected, has reported 1,005 cases (222 confirmed, 783 suspected), 24 deaths in a single week, and the novel Clade 1b strain was first discovered there in September 2023.
The DRC, which is home to almost 100 million people, has recorded cases from all 26 of its provinces.
In just one week, neighboring Burundi reported 173 cases, of which 39 were confirmed and 134 were suspected. This represents a 75% increase.
According to the Africa CDC, there have been more cases reported since the year’s commencement than there were in all of 2023—14,383 cases in total.
This week, Sweden and Pakistan reported the first cases of the mpox outside of Africa.
In addition to pushing for an increase in vaccine manufacturing, the World Health Organization (WHO) will shortly release the emergency committee’s first set of recommendations.
The virus that causes mpox can infect humans and animals, as well as humans and other people through intimate physical contact or sexual activity. Large boil-like skin lesions, fever, and soreness in the muscles are some of the symptoms.
While earlier variations caused localized lesions around the mouth, face, or genitalia, Clade 1b produces skin outbreaks throughout the body.
The illness, formerly called monkeypox, was discovered in 1970 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
For many years, the more deadly Clade 1 has been endemic in the Congo Basin in central Africa.
