The World Health Organization has declared the recent outbreak a public health emergency of international concern after the new variant was detected.
Countries on the continent are struggling to respond to a major new outbreak in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has exposed the weaknesses of health care systems that were ill-prepared to deal with a major public health crisis.
Data from the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed that the number of monkeypox cases in Africa has increased by 177 percent, and deaths have increased by 38.5 percent compared to the same period last year.
“We can say today that monkeypox is not under control in Africa. We still have this rise in cases that worries us all,” Jean Cassia, director-general of the CDC, said in a weekly briefing on the outbreak.
In one week, 2,912 new cases were reported compared to the previous week, including a new country, Morocco, which reported one case, confirming the spread of the disease in all four regions of the continent.
The Centers for Disease Control said 15 of the 55 African Union countries have so far reported cases of the disease.
Rwanda has started a vaccination campaign, while the Democratic Republic of Congo, the epicentre of the outbreak, is scheduled to start vaccinations in early October, Kasia said.
#Medical #body #Monkeypox #control #Africa