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Africa’s leading public health organization has declared mpox a public health emergency.
The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) issued the warning following an outbreak of the infectious disease that was recorded in DR Congo before spreading to nearby countries.
Symptoms of an mpox infection include fever and painful rashes that spread around the body. It is typically contracted through physical contact with other humans or animals.
A new, more transmissible, strain of the virus has been identified, and carries a mortality rate of up to 10% among children.
“We must act now with urgency and purpose. Protect yourself and your loved ones. Follow the guidance of health authorities,” Africa CDC Director General Jean Kaseya said on Tuesday. “We must stand together as one continent, united by our resolve to overcome this. Mpox might have taken us by surprise but it will not defeat us.”
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Cases have been surging at an “unprecedented scale” on the African continent, the World Health Organization said, prompting the body and Africa’s top health officials to consider labeling the disease an emergency.
Mpox was previously known as monkeypox because it is thought to have been first spotted in laboratory monkeys, according to the US government’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It was renamed in late 2022.
This is not the first time medical bodies have issued such a warning against mpox: In 2022, the disease was found simultaneously in endemic countries, including those in West and Central Africa, and in Europe and North America, where it is less common.
Most cases were found at clinics that provide sexual health services and “involved mainly, but not exclusively, men who have sex with men,” the WHO said at the time.
Nine in 10 of the current cases are found in DR Congo.