Mpox cases continue to spread across the African continent, with a spike of more than 500% from previous year, according to data from the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) released on Thursday.
The World Health Organization declared mpox a global health emergency in mid-August, when a new strain spread from the Democratic Republic of Congo to neighboring nations.
“The situation is not yet under control; we are still on an upward trend overall,” Africa CDC’s Ngashi Ngongo told a conference.
According to data from the public health service, 19 African countries have reported more than 48,000 probable mpox cases this year, with 1,048 de@ths.
Central Africa is the most affected by the outbreak, accounting for 85.7% of cases and 99.5%.
he virus can be spread by close physical contact, which includes s3xual intercourse. Its new strain, known as clade Ib, has also spread to Europe, with detections in Sweden, Germany, and the United Kingdom.
“We need to continue mobilizing the political engagement and also mobilising the financial support that is critical to get the current outbreak under control,” Ngongo told the media.
“We do not want this mpox, especially the clade 1b, to become another sexually transmitted pandemic, which would be much more severe than COVID-19.”
