The African Union’s health watchdog said on Thursday it was “likely” to declare a public health emergency next week over the growing mpox outbreak on the continent.
“It will be the first time because this mandate was given to us in 2023,” Jean Kaseya, head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), said during an online media briefing.
The decision will unlock funding to combat the outbreak, including the procurement of much-needed vaccines, and trigger a coordinated continental response to the virus.
“We are taking appropriate action, we are deciding when there is an emergency, we are making appropriate decisions and speaking in one voice,” Kaseya said, adding that the declaration of the health emergency was “likely” next week.
At least 16 countries on the continent of 55 nations have been affected with mpox, according to the Africa CDC.
Some 887 cases and five deaths were reported last week.
Formerly known as monkeypox, mpox is an infectious disease caused by a virus transmitted to humans by infected animals but can also be passed from human to human through close physical contact.
The disease causes fever, muscular aches and large boil-like skin lesions.
Mpox was first discovered in humans in 1970 in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
There are two subtypes of the virus: the more virulent and deadlier Clade I, endemic in the Congo Basin in central Africa; and Clade II, endemic in West Africa.
In May 2022, mpox infections surged worldwide, mostly affecting gay and bisexual men, due to the Clade IIb subclade.
© 2024 AFP
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Africa CDC likely to declare mpox health emergency: Director (2024, August 8)
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