A total of 866 people have died from mpox in Africa since the beginning of the year, according to the latest tally released on Thursday by the Africa CDC health service, which underlined that "the epidemic has not been brought under control" on the continent.
Since January, 34.297 cases have been recorded in the five African regions, the African Union health agency said.
mpox has been officially identified in 16 African countries, according to the same source.
"The epidemic has not been brought under control," insisted Dr. Jean Caseilla, the director general of the African Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, during a press conference.
About 2.500 new cases per week have been recorded in recent weeks, he continued, criticizing the fact that the rate of laboratory tests to confirm the presence of the disease remains "very low".
First case of mpox in Ghana
Health authorities in Ghana announced yesterday that the country has recorded its first case of mpox this year.
The patient, a small boy in the northwestern region of the country, some 475 kilometers from the capital Accra, is showing symptoms of the virus, especially skin lesions, fever and body pain, explained the director general of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Patrick Kuma Aboagye , in the press release made public.
While the child has been released from the hospital and is listed in stable condition, authorities have identified and placed under surveillance 25 individuals who came into contact with him.
"The suspected case of mpox was isolated according to the treatment protocols" of the disease, according to Mr Kooma Aboagye.
Another 230 or so suspected cases are under surveillance in the West African country, GHS sources told AFP yesterday.
New outbreak of mpox in Africa
mpox, formerly known as monkey pox, is a viral infection transmitted from infected animals to humans, as well as between humans, and causes fever, muscle aches and skin changes, especially rashes. It can be fatal.
The new outbreak of mpox on the continent and the emergence of a new variant of the virus (clade 1b) prompted the WHO to declare the highest level of alert at the international level in mid-August.
Clade 1b has been identified in DR Congo, Burundi, Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda, according to the Africa CDC.
The start of the vaccination campaign in DR Congo, the epicenter of the epidemic, which was originally scheduled to start the day before Wednesday, has been postponed indefinitely by the health authorities of the huge country.
It is expected to start in two days, however, underlined Dr. Casey to the journalists.
Rwanda began vaccinations on 17 September.
Source: iefimerida.gr
