As cases of mpox rise across the African continent, public health experts and world leaders are sounding the alarm, saying more needs to be done to contain the viral outbreak.
Fifteen countries in Africa are assessed as having active outbreaks, with Morocco being the latest to report a case.
Samuel Boland, mpox incident manager for the World Health Organization regional office for Africa, said that while the Democratic Republic of Congo and Burundi account for almost 90 percent of confirmed cases, more instances are popping up in other countries.
"DRC, Burundi [are] especially affected but also Cameroon, Central African Republic, Nigeria, Cote D'Ivoire, Republic of Congo, Liberia, Uganda, Kenya, Gabon, Rwanda, South Africa and Guinea," he told VOA, speaking from Brazzaville in the Republic of Congo.
The WHO says two distinct clades, or strains, have been identified. Clade I was formerly known as the Congo Basin clade, and Clade II was formerly West African clade.
Previously known as monkeypox, the viral disease can spread through close contact between people, according to the World Health Organization, and occasionally via objects and areas touched by a person with mpox.
Signs and symptoms include fever, rash, and swollen lymph nodes.
Boland said there have been 6,580 confirmed cases so far this year, but there's a bigger number of suspected cases. Suspected cases are clinically compatible with mpox but may not have been tested due to various limitations in several countries. That number has climbed to nearly 32,000.
"Now amongst that large number of suspected cases, 844 people have died. But when focusing on the confirmed cases this year as in from the first of January, 32 people have, unfortunately, passed away," Boland said.
In a virtual briefing last week, Jean Kaseya, director-general of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, said mpox is not under control in Africa. He said that while vaccine donations are trickling in, the amount is insufficient to contain the outbreak.
"Today, we have almost around 4 million commitments of doses, but we say we need more," Kaseya said.
U.S. President Joe Biden, in an address to world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly on Sept. 24, 2024, highlighted the need to “move quickly” to confront the mpox outbreak in Africa.
"We're prepared to commit $500 million to help African countries prevent and respond to mpox and to donate 1 million doses of mpox vaccine now," he said.
No specific date was given as to when the vaccines will arrive in Africa, but Biden said the investments will be delivered bilaterally, through existing relationships with partner countries, as well as through multilateral institutions.
In addition to vaccines, Boland said this mpox outbreak requires interventions across the full spectrum of the public health sector. He said the world needs to scale up and make sure it can deliver in several areas.
"Things like surveillance, which will include case investigation and contact tracing — both going out into communities and looking for cases,” he said. “Also engaging and encouraging communities to report cases when people become unwell."
He said this approach includes infection prevention and control, case management and vaccination.
