Prime
Mpox outbreak: Uganda on alert
A laboratory nurse, takes a sample from a child declared a suspected case of Mpox in Munigi, DRC. Photo/Reuters
What you need to know:
- Mpox is transmitted through close contact and causes flu-like symptoms and pus-filled lesions. Most cases are mild but it can kill.
Africa’s public health agency is set to declare an mpox emergency as early as next week, saying the viral infection’s rate of spread is alarming, as a new variant moves across Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)’s borders.
In Uganda, the Ministry of Health confirmed two cases of mpox after individuals infected in the DRC entered the country.
Mpox is transmitted through close contact and causes flu-like symptoms and pus-filled lesions. Most cases are mild but it can kill.
The new variant, known as Clade Ib and circulating mostly in Congo, appears to spread more easily through routine close contact, as seems to be the case among children.
The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) Director General, Jean Kaseya, said on Thursday that reported cases in Africa had risen by 79 percent from 2022-2023 and by 160 percent from 2023 to 2024.
“This is one of the aspects that is alarming us,” he said.
Kaseya added he would have calls with the heads of the African Union (AU) and the African Union Commission on Tuesday to “get their blessing” and guidance to declare a public health emergency - a new power for the continental body. He said most likely he would make the declaration next week.
Doing so would enable the Africa CDC to better coordinate cross-border responses and would obligate member countries to notify new cases to the continental body, he said.
It would also enable mobilisation of domestic and international resources and accelerate vaccine research and development, Kaseya said, adding he had been in talks with executives of the German drugmaker BioNTech (22UAy.DE), opens new tab about raising vaccine output after the likely declaration next week.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) said Africa is experiencing an unprecedented rise in cases this year.
Congo has seen more than 13,000 suspected mpox cases, including 503 deaths so far this year, the WHO’s spokesperson in Congo told Reuters, taking the total number of cases there since the start of 2023 to about 27,000, with more than 1,000 deaths.
To the east of Congo, Rwanda, Uganda and Kenya, which were previously unaffected by mpox, have all reported cases of the new variant since mid-July, a WHO statement said.
“Further analysis is required to better understand the patterns of transmission to refine the response to the outbreak,” the UN agency said.
The CDC issued a second health alert on Wednesday to notify clinicians and health departments about the deadly new strain.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has promised to convene an emergency committee to discuss whether the outbreak in Congo represents a public health emergency of international concern.
On Monday, Africa CDC said it had been granted $10.4 million in emergency funding from the AU for its mpox response.
A new strain of the mpox virus is spreading quickly in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and experts say it is the most dangerous variant they have seen.
Mpox disease is caused by the monkeypox virus, a member of the same family of viruses as smallpox, although it is much less severe.
The virus was originally transmitted from animals to humans, and is more common in countries close to tropical rainforests. In these regions, there are thousands of cases and hundreds of deaths from the disease every year - with children under the age of 15 worst affected. There are two main strains of the virus known to exist. The milder one caused a global outbreak in 2022 which spread to nearly 100 countries that do not usually see the virus.
The second, more deadly strain is endemic in central Africa - it is behind the new recently discovered strain in DR Congo.
The two types carry different risks of disease and mortality.
Initial symptoms include fever, headaches, swellings, back pain and aching muscles.
Once the fever breaks, a rash can develop, often beginning on the face then spreading to other parts of the body, most commonly the palms of the hands and soles of the feet.
The rash, which can be extremely itchy or painful, changes and goes through different stages before finally forming a scab, which later falls off. The lesions can cause scarring. The infection usually clears up on its own and lasts between 14 and 21 days.
Serious cases can see lesions attack the whole of the body, and especially the mouth, eyes and genitals.
By BBC
