During the global Mpox outbreak in 2022, which affected more than 70 countries, less than 1% of infected individuals died.
The World Health Organization has declared the Mpox outbreaks in Congo and other African countries a global emergency. Cases in children and adults have been confirmed in more than a dozen countries, and a new strain of the virus is spreading. Only a few vaccine doses are available on the continent.
Earlier this week, the African Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stated that the Mpox outbreaks, with more than 500 deaths, represent a public health emergency and called for international assistance to stop the spread of the virus.
“This is something that should concern us all… The possibility of further spread throughout Africa and beyond is very worrisome,” said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
The CDC for Africa had previously reported that Mpox, also known as monkeypox, has been detected in 13 countries this year, with more than 96% of all cases and deaths occurring in Congo. Compared to the same period last year, the number of cases has increased by 160% and the number of deaths by 19%. So far, there have been more than 14,000 cases and 524 deaths.
“We are now in a situation where (Mpox) poses a risk to many more neighbors in and around Central Africa,” said Salim Abdool Karim, a South African infectious diseases expert who leads the CDC emergency group for Africa. He pointed out that the new version of the Mpox disease spreading from Congo has a mortality rate of about 3 to 4%.
During the global Mpox outbreak in 2022, which affected more than 70 countries, less than 1% of people died.
Michael Marks, a professor of medicine at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, stated that declaring the Mpox outbreaks in Africa an emergency is justified if it leads to more support for controlling the disease.
“It is a failure of the global community that it had to get this bad for the necessary resources to be released,” he said.