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The 2022-23 global mpox outbreak happened despite repeated calls from African researchers for increased global investment in diagnostic, therapeutic and infection prevention tools for mpox. read more
 "Mpox cases in Africa surge to over 18,700 as new deadly strain Clade 1b spreads")
Mpox is a viral disease that can spread from animals to humans, but also human-to-human through sexual or close physical contact. File Photo- Reuters
A total of 18,737 suspected or confirmed cases of mpox reported in Africa since the start of the year, with an alarming surge of 1,200 cases in just one week, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Saturday.
The cumulative figure accounts for three strains of the virus, of which one is the new more deadly and more transmissible Clade 1b which prompted the World Health Organisation (WHO) on Wednesday to declare an international health emergency – the agency’s highest alert.
Watch Also: Mpox Spreads to Sweden & Pakistan : Should You be Worried? | Vantage with Palki Sharma
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To date, 3,101 confirmed and 15,636 suspected cases have been reported from 12 African Union member states, resulting in 541 deaths – a fatality rate of 2.89 percent, the CDC said in a statement.
The hardest hit country, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) where the new Clade 1b strain was first detected in September 2023, has reported 1,005 cases (222 confirmed, 783 suspected) and 24 deaths in one week.
All 26 provinces in the DRC, home to some 100 million people, have reported cases. Neighbouring Burundi reported 173 cases – 39 confirmed and 134 suspected – which marks a rise of 75 percent in one week.
The WHO has already declared an international health emergency on Wednesday. Notably, the 2022 outbreak of mpox in developed countries prompted a significant increase in research funding, resulting in an unprecedented surge in scientific studies.
A single medical search engine has yielded more research on mpox since April 2022 than in the preceding six decades. Despite repeated calls from African researchers for enhanced global investment in diagnostic, therapeutic, and infection prevention tools for mpox, the 2022-23 global outbreak occurred.
Read Also: In Graphics | A simple guide to understanding mpox
The WHO has now classified the current mpox upsurge in central Africa as a public health emergency of international concern, necessitating a coordinated international response to mitigate the risk to other countries.
Mpox was discovered in 1958 (in captive monkeys, hence the original misnomer “monkeypox”) and the first human case was identified in 1970. Then for decades it was largely neglected by the scientific and public health communities, regarded as an uncommon infection in remote rural areas in tropical Africa without relevance for the rest of the world.
More cases have been reported since the beginning of the year than all of 2023, which saw a total of 14,383 cases, according to the Africa CDC. The first cases of the mpox outside of Africa were recorded this week, in Sweden and Pakistan. The WHO will soon publish its first recommendations by its emergency committee and, along with NGOs, has also called for the ramping up of vaccine production.
Clade 1b causes skin eruptions all over the body, whereas previous variants caused localised lesions around the mouth, face or genitals. The disease, formerly known as monkeypox, was first detected in humans in the DRC in 1970. The deadlier Clade 1 has been endemic in the Congo Basin in central Africa for decades.
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