Scientists have raised the alarm over a dangerous new strain of virus mpox after one African nation recorded 450 deaths since the start of the year, according to the World Health Organization (WHO)
Mpox has now been declared a public health emergency in Africa as fears grow over the spread of a deadly new strain of the virus.
The alert comes just days after the World Health Organisation (WHO) assembled an expert group to decide if the escalating spread of the mpox virus in Africa should be declared a global emergency, reports the Manchester Evening News. The scientists, from the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), have expressed alarm at the rapid spread of a new strain of mpox across the continent.
The highly infectious disease, known for causing lesions across the body, has racked up cases in a number of African nations including Burundi, Kenya, and Rwanda. Since the start of the year, over 13,700 cases and 450 deaths have been logged in the Democratic Republic of Congo alone.
Just last week, the Africa CDC reported that mpox – formerly known as monkeypox – has been detected in 10 African countries this year. Jean Kaseya, head of Africa CDC, cautioned that without immediate action, the disease could spiral out of control, with global health chiefs also assessing the risk of further outbreak spread.
According to the NHS website, mpox spreads through close contact with infected individuals, including sexual contact. Between 2023 and 2024 up to May 31, the UK reported a total of 220 mpox cases, with numbers increasing monthly, according to Gov.UK data. WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a press briefing in Geneva that, given the increasing spread of mpox cases beyond Congo, he has decided to ask independent experts to advise WHO ‘as soon as possible’.
The director-general said the WHO has released one million dollars (£788,000) from its emergency fund to support the response. In 2022, WHO declared mpox to be a global emergency after it spread to more than 70 countries, mostly affecting gay and bisexual men. Before that outbreak, the disease had mostly been seen in sporadic epidemics in central and West Africa when people came into contact with infected animals.
Western countries mostly shut down the spread of mpox with the help of vaccines and treatments, but very few of those have been available in Africa. Maria Van Kerkhove, who leads WHO’s outbreak department, said there were numerous concerning issues in Africa’s mpox epidemic and called for a more urgent response. “We do not want the world to sit and watch and wait,” she said. “The time (to act) is now.”