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The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) has reported significant progress in combating mpox across several African nations.
Professor Yap Boun, Deputy Incident Manager of the Incident Management Support Team at Africa CDC, provided updates during a virtual press briefing on Thursday, highlighting improvements in surveillance, vaccination, and case management, while noting ongoing challenges in hotspot regions.
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) continues to record the highest number of infections.
“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,” Boun stated. The provinces of North Kivu, South Kivu, and Kinshasa accounted for 63 per cent of infections.
He expressed concern over co-infections, noting that a substantial proportion of mpox patients in Kinshasa, Kampala, and Freetown also live with HIV, and in some cases, syphilis.
Boun emphasised the need for stronger integration of mpox response into broader health systems, including systematic HIV testing for patients.
Sierra Leone has seen a marked decline in new infections, attributed to door-to-door sensitisation campaigns, community-driven messaging, and active surveillance. However, the Western Area Urban and Western Area Rural continue to account for three-quarters of cases.
Meanwhile, Liberia will conduct an intra-action review next week, as the country contends with rising infections and a high proportion of home-managed patients.
Guinea has reported a 58 per cent decrease in cases, with a total of 965 infections and two deaths.
Boun noted that 80 per cent of hospitalised patients presented with severe disease, underscoring the importance of early care and strengthened surveillance in hotspot regions such as Conakry, Kindia, and Kankan.
Kenya has recorded an increase in cases from 23 to 52, with Mombasa, Busia, and Nakuru identified as hotspots.
The country has successfully deployed 10,700 vaccine doses to meet its target and awaits further supplies to cover Nairobi and high-risk groups, including truck drivers and sex workers.
Across Africa, 4.7 million vaccine doses have been delivered to 15 countries, with over one million doses administered. An additional 485,000 doses are available, while pending shipments will deliver 42,000 doses each to Liberia and Uganda this week.
Boun described the scale-up in vaccine supply as a major milestone.
“Africa has moved from having just 20,000 doses to nearly five million, but much more is required to adequately control the epidemic and mitigate the risk of a wider outbreak,” he added.
