The African continent has since the beginning of 2024 lost 1,451 people to the Mpox epidemic with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) being the most affected.
“A total of 37,583 cases and 1,451 deaths have been reported across 15 African Union Member States”, a disease control surveillance has exposed.
The DRC alone accounts for 96.3% of all cases and 97% of deaths in 2024 alone, according to the ECOWAS Regional Centre for Surveillance & Disease Control (RCSDC).
The RCSDC further says that a “total of 44 confirmed cases and one death have been reported in the ECOWAS region since the beginning of the year; Nigeria (24), Cote d’Ivoire (11), Liberia (5) and Ghana (4)”
Join our WhatsApp Channel for more news
The World Health Organisation (WHO) describes Mpox or monkeypox, as a viral zoonotic disease caused by the monkeypox virus, a member of the Orthopoxvirus genus. It is similar to smallpox but generally less severe.
The disease “primarily occurs in central and western Africa, particularly in tropical rainforest regions. However, recent outbreaks have been reported globally, including in non-endemic countries”, says the WHO.
Its mode of transmission is through animals to humans through direct contact with the blood, bodily fluids, or cutaneous/mucosal lesions of infected animals while human-to-human transmission can occur via respiratory droplets, contact with infected body fluids, or contaminated materials.
According to the WHO symptoms include: “fever, headache, muscle aches, backache, swollen lymph nodes, chills, and exhaustion. A rash often appears 1-3 days after the onset of fever, starting on the face and spreading to other parts of the body”.
