Africa Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, Africa CDC, has declared a public health emergency, following the outbreak of Monkey Pox, mpox, which spread from the Democratic Republic of Congo to neighbouring countries.
The African Union’s, AU, health watchdog said the move is a “clarion call for action”.
It would be recalled that CDC had warned last week that the viral infection is spreading at an alarming rate.
“I declare with a heavy heart but with an unyielding commitment to our people, we declare mpox as a public health emergency of continental security.
“Mpox has now crossed borders, affecting thousands across our continent, families have been torn apart and the pain and suffering have touched every corner of our continent”, Head of Africa CDC, Jean Kaseya, said during an online media briefing on Tuesday.
Mpox is transmitted through close contact and causes flu-like symptoms and pus-filled lesions. Most cases are mild, but it can kill.
The outbreak in Congo began with the spread of an endemic strain, known as Clade I. But the new variant, known as Clade Ib, appears to spread more easily through routine close contact, particularly among children.
The centre stated that over 15,000 Mpox cases and 461 deaths were reported on the continent this year so far, representing a 160 percent increase from the same period last year.
Mpox has been endemic in parts of Africa for decades after it was first detected in humans in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1970.
A milder version of the virus spread to over a hundred countries in 2022, largely through sexual contact, prompting the World Health Organisation, WHO, to declare a public health emergency of international concern, its highest level of alert.
