Addis Ababa, October 24 (EFE) – The African Union Public Health Agency said on Thursday that since the beginning of 2024, there have been 45,327 cases of mpox (9,114 confirmed) and 1,014 deaths caused by the disease in 18 countries on the continent. A death was reported.
Epidemiologist Ngasi Gongo, executive director of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, explained that this represents a 400% increase in the number of cases compared to 2023.
The epicenter of the outbreak, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and neighboring Burundi, accounted for 96% of the region’s 1,001 new cases confirmed last week.
Gabon, Guinea-Conakry, Rwanda, Cameroon and South Africa have reported no new cases in the past four weeks, according to CDC Africa.
Ngongo said about 5.6 million doses of the vaccine had been confirmed for shipment, including 2.5 million manufactured by Danish pharmaceutical company Bavarian Nordic and another 3 million from Japan’s KM Biologics.
Ngongo said the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, Rwanda, Central African Republic, South Africa and Ivory Coast have developed vaccination plans, with the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda already having started vaccinations, and Nigeria starting in October. He pointed out that the vaccination campaign is scheduled to begin on the 25th. 29.
On August 13, the Africa CDC declared mpox a continental security public health emergency. The next day, the World Health Organization issued an international health alert for the disease.
The WHO warning cites the rapid spread and high mortality rate of the new variant (clade Ib) in Africa, with the first case of the variant confirmed outside the continent in Sweden and in people who had traveled to the African region. It was. The virus is spreading intensively.
This variant is distinct from Clade II, which caused a violent outbreak in Africa in 2022. It has also caused hundreds of cases in Europe, North America, and other countries in the region, leading to the declaration of an international public health emergency from 2022 to 2023. .
According to the WHO, mpox is an infectious disease that causes a painful rash, swollen lymph nodes, fever, headache, muscle aches, back pain, and lack of energy. EFE
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