The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) released new data on Thursday, highlighting the critical nature of the situation. During a press briefing, Ngashi Ngongo from Africa CDC emphasized that the situation remains uncontrolled and is experiencing an overall upward trend.
The statement highlighted that Mauritius has now become the 19th country impacted by the ongoing Mpox outbreak, while Nigeria has chosen to postpone its vaccination efforts.
Although vaccination rates in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda have exceeded 100%, the availability of child-friendly vaccines continues to pose a significant challenge. Since January 2024, confirmed Mpox cases have increased by 500% compared to 2023.
However, the organization did not provide specific reasons for Nigeria's decision to postpone the vaccination campaign.
In response to the outbreak, the World Health Organization declared Mpox a global health emergency in mid-August after a new variant of the virus was identified, spreading from the Democratic Republic of Congo to neighboring nations.
The statistics are alarming: 19 African countries have reported over 48,000 potential Mpox cases and 1,048 fatalities this year alone. Central Africa has been the most severely affected region, accounting for approximately 86% of all cases and nearly all deaths (99.5%).
“We need to continue mobilising the political engagement and also mobilizing the financial support that is critical to get the current outbreak under control,” Ngongo said.
“We do not want this Mpox, especially the clade 1b, to become another sexually transmitted pandemic, which would be much more severe than COVID-19.”
The transmission of the virus can occur through intimate physical contact, including sexual intercourse.
A novel strain of the virus, designated as clade Ib, has been discovered in various European nations, including Sweden, Germany, and the United Kingdom.