As mpox activity escalates rapidly across Africa’s primary hotspots, heightened concerns are emerging regarding a significant outbreak in Uganda, an official from the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) announced today.
In the past week alone, a staggering 2,345 mpox cases were documented throughout the continent, accompanied by an additional 34 fatalities. So far this year, the region has recorded a total of 48,093 cases, marking an alarming 500% increase compared to the entire total of 2023, revealed Ngashi Ngongo, MD, PhD, who heads Africa CDC’s mpox incident management team, during the agency’s weekly briefing.
This week’s briefing highlighted that, despite being several months into the outbreak, new records continue to emerge, including the first confirmed case in Mauritius, which raises the total number of affected countries to 19. Additionally, Uganda has registered its first death among its confirmed mpox cases.
Cross-border activity, sexual spread seen in Uganda
Uganda has witnessed a surge in mpox cases over the past four weeks, with 61 new cases reported just last week, Ministry officials revealed. The majority of these cases are linked to clade 1b, and the outbreak dynamics appear to differ from those in neighboring countries.
A significant 63% of the reported cases in Uganda have been in males, while only 12.5% involve children younger than 15 years, a stark contrast to the outbreak’s epicenter in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
The primary drivers of transmission in Uganda include cross-border interactions and sexual activity, with new clusters emerging in fishing communities, according to Ngongo. Furthermore, the virus’s presence is expanding in Uganda, with three additional districts reporting new cases over the past week.
Officials have also expressed concerns regarding an upward trend in cases within Liberia. Nonetheless, they enthusiastically noted that five countries—Cameroon, Gabon, Guinea, Rwanda, and South Africa—have maintained a period of over five weeks without any reported new cases.
Initial vaccine uptake is a bright spot
Currently, Rwanda and the DRC have successfully initiated mpox vaccination campaigns, with Rwanda achieving an impressive 100% coverage of its target population. Meanwhile, in the DRC, where immunization efforts are underway across six provinces as well as in overcrowded settings, such as prisons and refugee camps, the initiative has also surpassed its initial targets, Ngongo stated.
A much-anticipated vaccination campaign in Nigeria was initially scheduled to commence this week; however, it has faced delays due to logistical challenges. In the DRC, the forthcoming phase of vaccination focusing on Kinshasa is expected to launch in early November.
To date, nearly 900,000 doses of Bavarian Nordic’s Jynneos vaccine have been allocated for distribution among nine African nations.
**Interviewer:** Thank you for joining us today, Dr. Ngashi Ngongo, head of the Africa CDC’s mpox incident management team. Can you start by giving us an overview of the current mpox situation in Africa, particularly in Uganda?
**Dr. Ngongo:** Thank you for having me. As you mentioned, we are currently facing a significant escalation in mpox cases across Africa, especially in hotspots like Uganda. Just last week, we documented 2,345 new cases on the continent, pushing the total for this year to over 48,000—a staggering 500% increase compared to 2022. In Uganda, specifically, we have seen a troubling rise with 61 new cases reported last week alone.
**Interviewer:** Those numbers are indeed alarming. What factors are contributing to the rapid spread of mpox in Uganda?
**Dr. Ngongo:** Several factors are at play. We’ve observed cross-border activity, which suggests that movement between regions is helping to spread the virus. Additionally, the spread is primarily associated with clade 1b, which may have certain characteristics that make it more transmissible in certain populations. We also can’t ignore the role of sexual transmission in this outbreak, which has become a critical component of our response and education efforts.
**Interviewer:** Could you elaborate on the implications of having recorded the first mpox death in Uganda?
**Dr. Ngongo:** The first death in Uganda is a heartbreaking development and underscores the severity of this outbreak. It serves as a wake-up call for healthcare systems in the region to enhance their response strategies, improve surveillance, and ensure rapid access to care for those affected. Our goal is to prevent further loss of life and to manage the outbreak effectively.
**Interviewer:** With the recent emergence of mpox cases in countries like Mauritius, what can we expect in terms of containment efforts?
**Dr. Ngongo:** We are ramping up efforts across all affected countries to implement containment strategies, including enhanced surveillance, contact tracing, and community education. It’s essential we share information across borders and provide resources to healthcare workers on the ground. Our aim is to stop this outbreak from spreading further and to manage the cases effectively.
**Interviewer:** Thank you, Dr. Ngongo, for your insights and the important work you and your team are undertaking during this difficult time.
**Dr. Ngongo:** Thank you for having me. It’s crucial that we all work together to address this public health challenge.
