2024-10-04 07:56:00
A patient suffering from mpox in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, August 24, 2024. GLODY MURHABAZI / AFP
Eight hundred and sixty-six people have died from pox in Africa since the start of the year, according to a latest report dated Thursday October 3 from the Africa CDC health agency, which affirmed that “the epidemic is not under control” on the continent. Some 34,297 cases have been recorded since January across the five African regions, the African Union health agency said.
Mpox has been officially detected in sixteen African countries, according to the Africa CDC. “The epidemic is not under control”declared doctor Jean Kaseya, director general of the Africa CDC during a press conference. Some 2,500 new weekly cases have been recorded in recent weeks, he added, also deploring that the rate of tests to confirm the presence of the disease remains “too weak”.
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Health authorities in Ghana said the same day that the country recorded its first confirmed case of mpox in 2024. The patient, a young boy living about 475 kilometers from the capital, Accra, showed symptoms of the virus, including a rash, fever and body aches, the Director General of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Patrick Kuma-Aboagye, said in a statement.
While the child has been released from the hospital and is in stable condition, authorities have identified and are monitoring twenty-five people who had contact with him. “The suspected mpox case was isolated in accordance with mpox management protocols”Mr Kuma-Aboagye said.
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The resurgence of mpox on the continent and the appearance of a new variant (clade 1b) prompted the World Health Organization (WHO) to trigger its highest level of global alert in mid-August. Clade 1b has been recorded in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Burundi, Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda, according to the Africa CDC.
The launch of the vaccination campaign in the DRC, the epicenter of the epidemic, initially planned for Wednesday, has been delayed indefinitely by the Congolese health authorities. It should begin in two days, Mr. Kaseya told journalists. Rwanda started vaccinating on September 17.
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