‘Global emergency’ fears as Mpox virus spreads to 10 African countries

The United Nations is concerned about an outbreak of Mpox spreading so rapidly it may be classified as a global emergency.

The rapidly-growing Mpox outbreak in Africa could soon be declared a global emergency.

The United Nations is pulling together experts to determine the scale of the threat caused by the virus, which has now been reported in 10 African countries.

Compared to last year, cases have surged 160 per cent and deaths 19 per cent. Most of the infections were detected in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

The Mpox virus is much deadlier than Covid and a recently-discovered variant can kill 10 per cent of people infected.

A colorised transmission electron micrograph of monkeypox particles (green) found within an infected cell (pink and purple), cultured in the laboratory. Picture: AFP

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.

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.

Jean Kaseya, head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), said during an online media briefing that the declaration of the health emergency was “likely”.

At least 16 countries of the continent’s 55 nations have been affected with Mpox, according to the Africa CDC.

Some 38,465 cases and 1456 deaths have been reported in Africa since January 2022.

Of these, 887 cases and five deaths were reported last week, according to data from Africa CDC.

“We are moving from two outbreaks per week to three new outbreaks per week,” Kaseya said, adding that there was a shortage of vaccines on the continent.

Deadly new strain of Mpox

Fears are rife that a new strain of the Mpox virus — previously known as monkeypox — identified in DR Congo and now also in several neighbouring countries could further spread.

Deadlier and more transmissible than previous forms, the Mpox strain surging in the DRC since September, known as the Clade Ib subclade, is spread person-to-person.

It comes two years after a global outbreak was declared.

This is a colorised transmission electron microscopic image of Mpox virus particles (teal), which were found within an infected cell (brown), having been cultured in the laboratory. Picture: CDC Public Health Image Library

The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Sunday it was considering convening an expert committee to advise on whether to declare an international emergency, as it did during the global Mpox outbreak in 2022.

The Clade Ib strain causes skin rashes across the whole body, unlike other strains where lesions and rashes are usually limited to the mouth, face and genitals.

The African Union health agency, Africa CDC, registered 14,479 confirmed and suspected cases of the strain and 455 deaths in DRC as of August 3, representing a mortality rate of around three per cent.

But researchers in the vast Central African nation say the mortality rate from the strain can be as much as 10 per cent among children.

Pictured here, the face, back, feet and hands of a young boy, who had sustained the ravages of the characteristic maculopapular Mpox cutaneous rash in 1997. Picture: CDC Public Health Image Library

The Congolese government acknowledged last month an “exponential increase” in cases.

“The disease has been seen in the displacement camps around Goma in North Kivu where the extreme population density makes the situation very critical,” Louis Albert Massing, medical co-ordinator for Doctors Without Borders in DRC said.

“The risks of explosion are real given the enormous population movements” in the conflict-ridden region, which borders several countries, he added.

Already, the Clade Ib strain has jumped national borders — in the last two weeks, cases have been reported in Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda and Kenya, Rosamund Lewis, the WHO’s technical lead for Mpox, told AFP.

This historic 1997 image was created during an investigation into an outbreak of Mpox, which took place in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), 1996 to 1997. Picture: CDC Public Health Image Library

‘Raging’

Authorities in the four countries have confirmed Mpox cases — Burundi in particular has reported 127 cases — without specifying the strain.

The eight-member East African Community (EAC) has urged governments to educate their citizens on how to protect themselves and prevent the spread of the disease.

Lewis, from the WHO, said it was the first time that the four countries lying to the east of DRC had reported Mpox cases.

“Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda are countries that don’t have this disease in an endemic way … that means it’s an extension of the outbreak which is raging in the DRC and in Central Africa generally,” she said.

Africa CDC has also reported 35 suspected and confirmed cases, including two deaths, in Cameroon, 146 cases, including one death, in Congo Brazzaville, 227 cases in the Central African Republic, 24 in Nigeria, five in Liberia and four cases in Ghana.

In West Africa, Ivory Coast recently reported six confirmed non-fatal cases, five of which were in the economic capital Abidjan, without specifying the strain.

A new monkeypox strain is sparking fears. Picture: CDC Public Health Image Library

Detection capacity

Mpox was first discovered in humans in 1970 in the DRC, then called Zaire. It has since been mainly limited to certain West and Central African nations. Humans mainly catch it from infected animals, such as when eating bushmeat.

In May 2022, Mpox infections surged worldwide, mostly affecting gay and bisexual men.

That spike was driven by a new subtype, dubbed Clade II, which took over from Clade I.

Around 140 people died out of about 90,000 cases across 111 countries. The outbreak is “still raging”, Lewis said, including in South Africa, which has seen 24 cases, three of which were fatal, but she added it was “controlled” and spreading less.

Mpox remains a global health threat, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned in early July.

Countries are now able to detect cases, Lewis said, pointing to a system of surveillance, laboratories and communication with affected areas.

It is hard to know if there has been “a substantial rise” in cases, or whether “it’s just a matter of increased awareness”, said Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO’s epidemic and pandemic preparedness and prevention director, who confirmed concern over the Clade Ib strain.

“There are some vaccines that are licensed that can be used for Mpox,” she said. Negotiations between the WHO and affected countries are under way to authorise the use of one, Lewis said.