Africa has reported more than 42,300 cases and 1,100 deaths from mpox.

Addis Ababa (EFE).- The African Union (AU) public health agency reported this Thursday that since the beginning of 2024, eighteen countries have reported 42,438 cases (8,113 confirmed) and 1,100 deaths from smallpox (the disease formerly called smallpox monkeys). Member States.

“We have no good news (…). Mpox is not under control,” admitted the director of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Jean Kaseya, at his weekly telematics press conference.

“We have not made much progress and unfortunately we have recorded the first 1,000 deaths,” Kasea said, stressing the need to “accelerate” the response against the spread of the disease.

“We can’t go on like this”

“Now we want to see concrete action on the ground to stop this outbreak. Eighteen countries are too many. We cannot continue like this,” stressed the Congolese doctor, who called on the AU’s international partners to allocate the promised funds to fight the epidemic.

Over the past week, 3,051 new infections and 50 new deaths were reported, Kaseya said, highlighting that the number of confirmed cases in 2024 increased by 380% compared to all of 2023.

DR Congo, the country most affected by mpox

The country most affected by the epidemic continues to be the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the epicenter of the outbreak and where the vaccination campaign began on the 5th.

As of the 16th, a total of 20,897 people have been vaccinated in the three provinces of the DRC, including 8,435 women.

On August 13, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) declared mpox a “continental public health emergency,” and the next day the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a state of international health alert for the disease.

WHO’s alarm stems from the rapid spread and high mortality rate in Africa of a new variant (clade Ib), the first case of which was identified outside the continent, in Sweden, in a person who had traveled to an area of ​​Africa where the virus circulates intensively.

This variant is distinct from clade II, which caused a severe outbreak in Africa in 2022, as well as hundreds of cases in Europe, North America and other regions, and has already led to the declaration of an international health emergency between 2022 and 2023.

According to the WHO, mpox is an infectious disease that can cause a painful rash, swollen lymph nodes, fever, headache, muscle pain, back pain and loss of energy.