The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a warning on Thursday, stating that the monkeypox outbreak across Africa remains out of control, with cases continuing to rise in several countries.
The World Health Organization (WHO) recently declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern after detecting a new variant.
Many African nations are struggling to manage this significant new outbreak, following the strain of the COVID-19 pandemic, which exposed weaknesses in healthcare systems unprepared for large-scale public health crises.
According to data from the Africa CDC, monkeypox cases on the continent have surged by 177%, with fatalities increasing by 38.5% compared to the same period last year.
Jean Kaseya, the CDC director, stated during a weekly briefing, “We can say today that monkeypox is not under control in Africa. We are still witnessing a concerning rise in cases.”
In just one week, 2,912 new cases were reported, compared to the previous week, including a new case in Morocco, marking the spread of the disease across all four regions of the continent.
So far, 15 out of 55 African Union member states have reported cases of monkeypox, according to the CDC.
Kaseya also noted that Rwanda has started a vaccination campaign, while the Democratic Republic of Congo, the epicenter of the outbreak, plans to begin vaccinations in early October.
