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This article documents an epidemic. Information may change rapidly as the event progresses, and initial news reports may be unreliable. The latest updates to this article may not reflect the most current information. (August 2024) |
An epidemic of mpox began in Africa in September 2023. As of August 2024, more than 17,000 cases have been reported with 517 fatalities.[1] On 14 August 2024, the World Health Organization declared the epidemic a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC).[2]
| African mpox epidemic | |
|---|---|
 Countries with 1,000+ cases
Countries with 100–999 cases
Countries with 1–99 cases
No confirmed cases | |
| Disease | Mpox |
| Location | Africa (primarily) |
| Date | September 2023 – present |
| Confirmed cases | 14,252 |
Deaths | 456 |
Outbreak
| Country | Cases[3] | Deaths[3] |
|---|---|---|
| Democratic Republic of the Congo | 13,791 | 450 |
| Central African Republic | 213 | 0 |
| Republic of the Congo | 146 | 1 |
| Cameroon | 35 | 2 |
| Nigeria | 24 | 0 |
| South Africa | 22 | 3 |
| Burundi | 8 | 0 |
| Liberia | 5 | 0 |
| Ghana | 4 | 0 |
| Rwanda | 2 | 0 |
| Uganda | >1 | 0 |
| Sweden | 1 | 0 |
| Pakistan | 1 | 0 |
| Total | 14,252 | 456 |
In May 2022, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared that mpox was a global health emergency. The disease had infected 87,000 individuals and caused 140 deaths when the WHO ended its global emergency the following year.[4]
A resurgence of mpox in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) began by January 2024.[5][6] In April of the same year, a subgroup of clade I of mpox was identified in Kamituga, a mining town in the province of South Kivu.[6][7]
In August 2024, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (ACDC) declared that spreading mpox outbreaks in Africa had become a public health emergency, with over 500 deaths being reported. The organization requested the help and intervention of the international community to control the spread of the virus and treat infected patients.[8]
In 2024, thirteen countries were reported to have identified cases of mpox; over 96% of all reported cases and fatalities from the disease were confirmed in the DRC, with a total of 14,000 cases reported globally and 524 reported deaths.[8] The ACDC stated that the fatality rate of the strain of virus causing the outbreak was 3–4%, significantly higher than the less than 1% fatality rate recorded during the 2022–2023 mpox outbreak. It further reported that 70% of reported cases in the DRC were in children under 15, as that demographic represented 85% of reported deaths.[8] Epidemiologist Jacques Alonda expressed concern over the disease's spread in refugee camps in the DRC and its neighbor countries, especially due to the amount of pressure already applied on the national healthcare system by concurrent outbreaks of cholera and measles, as well as widespread malnutrition.[8]
Countries with widespread transmission
Democratic Republic of the Congo
As of July 2024, 13,791 cases of mpox have been reported in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), with at least 450 deaths being confirmed.[3]
Countries with limited local transmission
As of August 2024, thirteen countries have reported cases of mpox;[8][9] the WHO reported that new cases of the mpox strain, all of which linked to the outbreak in the DRC, had been identified for the first time in four East African nations: Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda.[8]
On 15 August 2024, Sweden's Public Health Agency reported the first case outside of Africa, which involved a person who had contracted Clade 1 mpox during a stay in an area of Africa affected by an outbreak of the disease.[10][11][12] In a public statement, the agency said that, while the case in itself didn't represent a higher risk to the general population,[10][12] occasional imported cases "may continue to occur".[10][13]
Central African Republic
On 30 July 2024, the Central African Republic declared an outbreak of mpox in Bangui, following a period of time when the disease was mostly restricted to rural areas.[14]
Countries with suspected cases
On 15 August 2024, a suspected case of mpox was reported in the Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa which was later confirmed to be an actual case of mpox.[15][16]
Presence of the virus
On August 13, 2024, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned of the presence of the virus in wastewater in California and Illinois in the United States.[17]
Virology
Mpox is caused by the monkeypox virus. The virus is transmitted through close contact, contaminated clothing, sheets or surfaces, consumption of contaminated meat and sexual contact.[9][18] In April 2024, researchers identified a novel subgroup of clade I of mpox in Kamituga, a mining town in South Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo.[6][19] Epidemiologists reported that the new strain had the potential to spread with greater ease compared to other mpox strains.[6] The researchers theorized that the strain had undergone genetic mutations allowing it to spread easier through human transmission, due to the mining town's remote location preventing most occasions of contact with animals that naturally carry and spread the disease.[6]
The lead researcher of the new outbreak, Dr. Placide Mbala-Kingebeni, said that the results of the analysis marked "a new phase of mpox" from the prior outbreak in 2022 and 2023, since the new strain reportedly produced more mild lesions, predominantly on the genitals, making the disease more difficult to diagnose compared to strains that caused chest, feet, and hand lesions. Mbala-Kingebeni also noted that there might be a higher risk of silent transmission of the disease due to its different manifestations.[6] The research team determined the detected form to be a Clade I type strain, which was historically more severe in comparison to the Clade II type that was predominant during the 2022–2023 mpox outbreak.[6]
Prevention and mitigation
In June 2024, Reuters reported that authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo had approved the vaccines Jynneos, manufactured by Bavarian Nordic, and LC16, manufactured by KM Biologics.[20]
Responses
On 14 August 2024, the World Health Organization declared the epidemic a global health emergency.[2]
Challenges
Mpox vaccines were not approved by any African government and the efficacy of vaccines had not been attested by the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts until June 2024. World Health Organization Health Emergencies Programme director Michael J. Ryan noted in an interview with NPR that the Democratic Republic of the Congo faces several endemic diseases, including measles and cholera. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, only two labs are able to perform mpox polymerase chain reaction testing.[21] Central African health minister Pierre Somse stated that families were hiding infected relatives in fear of being stigmatized.[14]
References
- ^ Bariyo, Nicholas (14 August 2024). "Rapid Spread of Mpox in Africa Is Global Health Emergency, WHO Says". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on 14 August 2024. Retrieved 14 August 2024.
- ^ a b Mandavilli, Apoorva (14 August 2024). "W.H.O. Declares Global Emergency Over New Mpox Outbreak". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 15 August 2024. Retrieved 14 August 2024.
- ^ a b c Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention 2024, p. 1.
- ^ Mandavilli, Apoorva (11 May 2023). "W.H.O. Ends Mpox Global Emergency". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 15 August 2024. Retrieved 14 August 2024.
- ^ Scott, Dylan (24 January 2024). "A deadly new outbreak is testing Africa's ambitious public health efforts". Vox. Archived from the original on 8 August 2024. Retrieved 14 August 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f g Cheng, Maria; Christina, Malkia (2 May 2024). "A new form of mpox that may spread more easily found in Congo's biggest outbreak". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 14 August 2024. Retrieved 14 August 2024.
- ^ Newey, Sarah (16 April 2024). "Mutated strain of mpox with 'pandemic potential' found in DRC mining town". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 15 August 2024. Retrieved 14 August 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f Cheng, Maria (14 August 2024). "WHO declares mpox outbreaks in Africa a global health emergency as a new form of the virus spreads". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 16 August 2024. Retrieved 14 August 2024.
- ^ a b Sampson, Eve (14 August 2024). "What to Know About Mpox". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 16 August 2024. Retrieved 14 August 2024.
- ^ a b c "One case of mpox clade I reported in Sweden". Public Health Agency of Sweden. 15 August 2024. Archived from the original on 16 August 2024. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
- ^ Kirby, Paul (15 August 2024). "First case of more contagious mpox found outside Africa". BBC. Archived from the original on 15 August 2024. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
- ^ a b "Första bekräftade fallet av nya mpox-varianten i Sverige" [First confirmed case of the new mpox variant in Sweden]. SVT Nyheter (in Swedish). 15 August 2024. Archived from the original on 15 August 2024. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
- ^ Mandavilli, Apoorva (15 August 2024). "How Did Mpox Become a Global Emergency? What's Next?". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 15 August 2024. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
- ^ a b Chibelushi, Wedaeli (30 July 2024). "Central African Republic latest to declare mpox outbreak". BBC News. Archived from the original on 14 August 2024. Retrieved 14 August 2024.
- ^ Junaidi, Ikram (15 August 2024). "NCOC issues advisory as first suspected mpox case quarantined". Dawn. Reuters. Agence France-Presse. Archived from the original on 16 August 2024. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
- ^ "Pakistan confirms first mpox case of 2024, infected person came from Saudi Arabia". Firstpost. 15 August 2024. Archived from the original on 16 August 2024. Retrieved 16 August 2024.
- ^ "Mpox Map Shows US States With Virus in Wastewater as Outbreak Hits Africa". Newsweek.com. 13 August 2024. Retrieved 16 August 2024.
- ^ Sinclair, Carla (14 August 2024). "Outbreak: WHO declares much deadlier strain of mpox a global 'public health emergency'". Boing Boing. Retrieved 14 August 2024.
- ^ Murhula Masirika et al. 2024, p. 1.
- ^ Rigby, Jennifer (27 June 2024). "Congo authorities approve mpox vaccines to try to contain outbreak". Reuters. Retrieved 14 August 2024.
- ^ Emmanuel, Gabrielle (2 April 2024). "Major mpox outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo is a worry to disease docs". NPR. Archived from the original on 14 August 2024. Retrieved 14 August 2024.
Cited works
- Mpox Situation in Africa (PDF) (Report). Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. 30 July 2024.
- Murhula Masirika, Leandre; Kumar, Anuj; Dutt, Mansi; Toloue Ostadgavahi, Ali; Hewins, Benjamin; Bubala Nadine, Maliyamungu; Kitwanda Steeven, Bilembo; Kumbana Mweshi, Franklin; Mutimbwa Mambo, Léandre; Bengehya Mbiribindi, Justin; Belesi Siangoli, Freddy; A Kelvin, Alyson; Claude Udahemuka, Jean; Kelvin, Patricia; Flores, Luis; Kelvin, David; Sganzerla Martinez, Gustavo (April 2024). "Complete Genome Sequencing, Annotation, and Mutational Profiling of the Novel Clade I Human Mpox Virus, Kamituga Strain". Journal of Infection in Developing Countries. 18 (4): 600–608. doi:10.3855/jidc.20136. PMID 38728644. Retrieved 14 August 2024.