The mpox outbreak in Africa is still not under control, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) warned on Thursday, adding that cases were still increasing in several countries.
The World Health Organization declared the recent outbreak of the disease a public health emergency of international concern after the new variant was identified.
Countries on the continent are struggling to respond to another major outbreak coming on the heels of the Covid-19 pandemic that exposed weak health systems that were unprepared to deal with a major public health crisis.
The number of mpox cases in Africa has surged 177%, and deaths have increased 38.5% compared with the same period a year ago, data from the Africa CDC showed.
'We can say today that mpox is not under control in Africa. We still have this increase of cases that is worrying for all of us,' Jean Kaseya, director general of the Africa CDC, told a weekly briefing on the outbreak.
