Congo reported over 1,000 new mpox infections in the past week as of Tuesday, prompting African health officials to urgently request vaccines to address the escalating threat across the continent.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has labelled the mpox outbreaks in Africa as a global health emergency.
Mpox, related to the smallpox virus, generally causes less severe symptoms such as fever, chills, and body aches and spreads primarily through direct skin contact, including sexual activities. Severe cases may lead to lesions appearing on the face, hands, chest, and genitals.
During the current outbreaks, mpox has been identified in 12 of the 54 African nations, but Congo has reported the highest number of cases.
This year alone, Congo accounted for 94% of the continent’s 18,910 cases, totalling 17,794 infections, according to the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. There have been 535 deaths out of 541 reported across the continent.
Testing rates are low; it is estimated that only 20% of suspected mpox cases in Congo undergo testing.
Dr. Jean Kaseya, director-general of Africa CDC, highlighted the limited testing and surveillance capabilities in many African countries.
In the last week, Congo recorded 1,030 of the 1,405 new cases reported in Africa, as per the Africa CDC’s latest update on Tuesday. Although only 16% of these cases were confirmed through laboratory tests, they meet the agency’s criteria for the disease.
The identification of a potentially more transmissible strain of mpox in Congo and the escalating case numbers prompted the WHO to declare a global health emergency last week.
This declaration is hoped to mobilize international donors to provide vaccines and aid to help control the outbreaks before they spread globally. This concern is heightened by a case of the new strain reported in Sweden, which originated from eastern Congo.
Previous attempts by the WHO to gather funds for fighting mpox did not attract any donations. However, Africa CDC’s Kaseya mentioned that the European Union and Bavarian Nordic had pledged 215,000 mpox vaccines, expected to arrive shortly.
Additionally, the U.S. aid agency has contributed 50,000 doses to Congo, and Japan has made some donations as well.
Despite these efforts, the need is much greater. Congo’s health minister stated that his country requires 3 million vaccine doses to halt the outbreaks, which have already spread to at least four neighbouring countries.
A global outbreak of mpox in 2022 affected over 70 countries but was quickly contained with vaccines and treatments available in affluent countries, though few resources reached Africa.
The virus has been endemic in places like Nigeria for years, only gaining significant international attention recently. Since then, mpox has continued to affect populations in Congo with minimal effective containment measures in place.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has criticized the international response to the 2022 outbreak as inequitable, noting that while affluent Western nations received ample support, Africa was largely neglected. He called for fair access to mpox diagnostics and vaccines in the current crisis.
