Monkeypox emergency in Africa: Symptoms and how does it spread

Multiple African countries have recently detected numerous cases of Monkeypox, with central Africa the hotspot for the most recent outbreak.

Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention declared Monkeypox (also known as mpox) a continent-wide public health emergency on Tuesday 13 August.

The Democratic Republic of Congo recently registered a number of cases, as well as other border nations.

Public health emergency declared in central Africa

“We declare today this public health emergency of continental security to mobilize our institutions, our collective will, and our resources to act swiftly and decisively,” said Africa CDC Director General Jean Kaseya in a press briefing Tuesday.

And the outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is worsening, with the country grappling with the Clade I strain of mpox. As of May 2024, the country has reported 7,851 cases and 384 deaths.

Added to that, in the past two months, four countries in east Africa — Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda — have reported clade I mpox cases for the first time, spurring concerns that a deadlier mpox pandemic may be on the horizon. Clade I causes more severe illness than Clade II and has historically been restricted to central Africa.

Is Moneypox deadly? What are the symptoms?

The West African strain, Clade I, has a 1 percent fatality rate. The second, from the Congo, has a fatality rate of 10 percent. Symptoms are similar to some strains of covid-19, but with one major difference: like many other poxes, people with the illness also show a rash. Sometimes it is confused with chickenpox due to its similar look.

Is Mpox contagious?

Monkeypox can be transmitted via physical contact. Here are some of the ways the disease can be passed on:

In the U.S. and Europe, there were slightly more than 30,000 and 25,000 mpox cases respectively between May 2022 and May 2023, officials distributed over a million vaccine doses. As a result, mpox transmission significantly declined in most countries. By May 2023, the World Health Organization lifted the emergency status.