The World Health Organization (WHO) said Monday that nearly 30,000 suspected cases of MPOX infection have been reported in Africa so far this year, with the majority of them in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where testing is scarce.
More than 800 people have died from suspected MPOX across the continent during that period, the UN health agency said in a report, adding that the outbreak continues in Congo’s central African country neighbour, Burundi.
Mpox is spread by close contact and is usually mild but can be fatal in rare cases. It typically causes flu-like symptoms and pus-filled lesions on the body.
The WHO statement did not provide comparative figures for the previous year. The African Union’s public health agency said 14,957 cases and 739 deaths had been reported in the seven affected states in 2023, a 78.5% increase in new cases over 2022.
According to a WHO report, between January and September 15 this year, there were 29,342 suspected cases across Africa, with 812 deaths.
A total of 2,082 cases were confirmed worldwide in August alone, the highest number since November 2022, according to the WHO.
The World Bank’s Pandemic Fund announced on Saturday that it would provide $128.89 million to 10 African countries to help them fight the outbreak.
