Mpox outbreak hits 15 African countries: WHO

A total of 15 countries in the African region have been affected by the mpox outbreak since 2024, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday, warning of various clades that add "layers of complexity," late diagnosis, and poor access to treatment, reported Xinhua.

According to the WHO's latest report on mpox epidemics in the African region, 15 countries in the WHO African region have active transmission of mpox, defined as cases being reported in the past six weeks, with Ghana newly affected by mpox outbreak as reported in early October.

In 2024, as of Sept. 29, the African region has recorded 37,325 suspected cases, including 996 deaths and 6,602 confirmed cases, while the majority of the cases have been identified in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

The DRC, which has reported 30,766 suspected cases, faces a higher fatality rate due to late diagnosis and poor access to treatment in several health zones. Only 39 percent of suspected cases have been tested in 2024, as the positivity rate among tested cases is around 55 percent, the WHO warned.

The health agency noted that a significant number of suspected mpox cases remain untested and "thus never get confirmed" due to limited diagnostic capacity.

In the newly-released report, Ghana was listed as the latest country in the region affected by the mpox outbreak, after it registered its first case of the year on Oct. 1. The patient, a young boy, with a history of rash, fever, and bodily pains, is under isolation with contact tracing ongoing, while sequencing is still ongoing place to determine the clade.

The region is contending with multiple clades of the virus, further complicating response efforts, said the WHO.

Clade Ia is circulating in the Central African Republic, while Clade Ib is present in Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi, and Clade IIb is reported in Nigeria and South Africa, which adds "layers of complexity" to managing the outbreak across affected countries, as per the report.

The WHO highlighted the urgent need to enhance laboratory capacity, strengthen surveillance systems, and improve cross-border coordination, calling on member states to focus on early detection, implement targeted vaccination campaigns, and intensify public health interventions, especially in areas experiencing rising case numbers.

In mid-August, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention declared the ongoing mpox outbreak in Africa a public health emergency of continental security. Shortly afterward, the WHO also declared mpox a public health emergency of international concern, activating its highest level of global alert for mpox for the second time in two years.

However, the latest WHO bulletin did not include Zambia, which announced on Thursday that it had detected the country's first mpox case in a Tanzanian national who visited Chitambo Town in Central Province.

Mpox, also known as monkeypox, is an infectious disease caused by the monkeypox virus, which spreads through close contact. Symptoms include fever, swollen lymph nodes, sore throat, muscle aches, skin rash, and back pain.