By Iyemah David
The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) has reported progress in the fight against mpox across several African countries.
Professor Yap Boum, Deputy Incident Manager Incident Management Support Team, Africa CDC, gave the report during a virtual press briefing on Thursday.
He cited improvements in surveillance, vaccination and case management, adding that challenges remain in hotspot regions.
According to him, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) continues to record the highest number of cases.
“Over 31,000 infections and nearly 2,000 deaths have been confirmed, with a case fatality rate of 1.5 per cent among suspected cases and 0.41 per cent among confirmed cases,” he said.
Prof. Boun said that the provinces of North Kivu, South Kivu, and Kinshasa accounted for 63 per cent of infections.
He noted strong case management efforts, but also highlighted the need for better access in conflict-affected regions.
He also raised concern over co-infections, with a significant proportion of mpox patients in Kinshasa, Kampala, and Freetown found to be living with HIV, and in some cases, syphilis.
He called for stronger integration of mpox response into broader health systems, including systematic HIV testing for mpox patients.
“Sierra Leone has reported a sharp decline in new infections, attributed to intensified door-to-door sensitisation campaigns, community-driven messaging, and active surveillance.
“Still, Western Area Urban and Western Area Rural continue to account for three-quarters of the country’s cases.
“Meanwhile, Liberia is set to undergo an intra-action review next week, as the country continues to battle rising infections and struggles with a high proportion of patients being managed at home,” he said.
He confirmed that cases dropped by 58 per cent in Guinea, bringing the total to 965 cases and two deaths.
However, he said that 80 per cent of hospitalised patients presented with severe disease, prompting calls for earlier care, strengthened surveillance in hotspot regions such as Conakry, Kindia and Kankan.
“Kenya has also seen cases rise from 23 to 52, with Mombasa, Busia, and Nakuru identified as hotspots.
“The country has successfully deployed 10,700 vaccine doses, fully meeting its target, and is awaiting more supplies to cover Nairobi and high-risk groups, including truck drivers and sex workers,” he said.
Across the continent, Boun confirmed that 4.7 million vaccine doses have been delivered to 15 countries, with over one million doses administered.
“An additional 485,000 doses are currently available, while pending shipments will deliver 42,000 doses each to Liberia and Uganda this week,” he said.
He described the scaling up of vaccine supply as a major milestone.
“We have moved from a time when Africa had only 20,000 doses to now, nearly five million.
“But much more is needed to adequately control the epidemic and prevent the risk of pandemic spread,” he said.
