By Iyemah David
The Africa Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) has described the death toll from Mpox as unacceptable, calling for urgent action to enhance cross-border surveillance.
The Director-General of the centre, Dr Jean Kaseya, expressed concern over the Mpox situation at a news conference on Thursday, noting that in spite of a recently launched response plan by the Africa CDC and the World Health Organisation (WHO), Africa recorded 107 deaths and 3,160 cases in one week.
Kaseya added that “in one week, the continent lost 107 lives. This is too much and unacceptable. Africa cannot rely solely on confirmed cases for decision-making and response.”
He stressed the need for robust cross-border surveillance and lamented the lack of adequate testing across the continent.
He called for urgent increase in testing capacities and resources, saying that “the current level of testing is insufficient for effective response and decision-making.”
He disclosed plans to travel to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to oversee the upcoming vaccine rollout, expected to begin in the first week of October.
“I will personally receive the vaccine to demonstrate to both the African and Congolese people that the vaccine is safe,” he added.
He highlighted key testing figures, revealing that men have a 63 per cent positivity rate for Mpox, while children under the age of 15 have a 41 per cent positivity rate across the continent.
He also warned that Mpox could be transmitted from mother to child during pregnancy.
“The Mpox virus is related to smallpox but causes milder symptoms such as fever, chills, and body aches. Severe cases can lead to lesions on the face, hands, chest and genitals,” he explained.
The director-general provided an update on the joint Africa CDC and WHO six-month response plan, which has an estimated budget of nearly $600 million.
He said “the plan focuses on three key areas: surveillance, laboratory testing, and community engagement, expressing concern that the current vaccine supply might not be sufficient to contain the outbreak.
“Some African Union member states have already contributed to the response plan budget, a positive step toward ownership of the continent’s health security,” he said.
Kaseya said that the Africa CDC is actively working on Mpox vaccine distribution, with 250,000 doses already delivered to the DR Congo.
However, he noted, more than three million doses are needed to end the outbreak in the country, which has become the epicentre of the global Mpox emergency.
“European Union (EU) countries have pledged to donate 500,000 doses, although the delivery timeline remains unclear.
“In spite of the urgent need, the recommended course of vaccination involves two doses.”
The Africa CDC had reported 5,731 confirmed Mpox cases and 724 associated deaths since the beginning of the year.
In the DR Congo alone, the Ministry of Health reported nearly 22,000 cases and 716 deaths since January.
The WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, had earlier noted in August that while the number of cases was rapidly increasing, death rates remained relatively low until recently.
However, the surge in cases prompted WHO to declare Mpox outbreaks in 12 African member states as a global emergency.
As of now, 200,000 vaccine doses have been delivered to the DRC by the European Union, along with 50,000 doses from the United States.
Several hundred thousand more doses have been pledged by European nations, in addition to three million doses promised by Japan.
The DRC remains the epicentre, Mpox cases have now been reported in at least 12 African countries, with Guinea recently confirming its first case.
Outside of Africa, the virus has been detected in countries including Pakistan, the Philippines, Sweden, and Thailand.
The WHO declared Mpox a global public health emergency on August 14, 2024, due to the rising cases of the new Clade 1b strain.
