Our next story tonight comes from Africa. The continent has declared a public health emergency over mpox. This is a highly infectious disease. It was once called monkeypox. If left untreated, mpox can be deadly and Africa knows it.
Since the beginning of this year, more than 14,000 cases and more than 500 deaths have been recorded in the continent. 90 6% of these cases come from a single country, the Democratic Republic of Congo. But now the disease is spreading across Central and East Africa at an alarming rate. Nations are worried that the virus might cross international borders. Here’s a report.
Africa is on edge. It’s fighting a highly infectious disease, mpox, which was formerly known as monkeypox. The African Union has declared a public health emergency. I declare with a heavy heart, but with an an an unyielding commitment to our people, to our African citizen. We declare MPOX as public health emergency of competitive security in Africa.
MPOX belongs to the same family of viruses as smallpox. It spreads through close contact with someone who’s infected, through skin to skin contact, or even by breathing closely. This could be from animals to humans or between people. MPOX usually has mild symptoms like fever and muscle aches, which is why it can go unidentified. But the clearest and most severe symptom of MPOX is this, lesions all over the body.
If left untreated, mpox can be deadly. So far, two main strains of the virus are known to exist. In 2022, we saw the milder strain in action. There was a global outbreak, and it affected more than 70 countries, including the US, Australia, and several European countries. And now we’re witnessing the second strain at play.
It’s much more deadly, and it’s causing devastation in Africa. But more than 96% of all cases are in a single country, the Democratic Republic of Congo. This is where the newly discovered variant was found. And since the beginning of the year, more than 13,700 cases have been recorded in the DRC, and 450 people have died. A large number of these deaths are among children.
130 suspected cases have arrived here, and of these 50% are among children less than 5 years old. Up to the age of 18, that’s 95% of the cases. So you can see that the over 18ths are just 5%. What makes the situation worse is the speed at which MPOX is spreading. It has alarmed experts, and researchers say that the virus is quickly evolving and therefore spreading faster.
Now the virus has spread to other African countries, including Burundi, the Central African Republic, Kenya, and Rwanda. So far, there have been more than 14,000 cases and 524 deaths in total, but experts say the situation is much worse. The evidence we have on the number of cases, the number of deaths, they are just the tip of the iceberg. And the reason is that MPOX is largely a mild condition. We have limited surveillance.
We have limited capacity to do the testing that’s required. We have limited capacity to do the contact tracing and the reporting. But surveillance and testing are not the only problems. So is treatment. 3 vaccines can help cure MPOX.
They’re not widely available in Africa. So only people at risk or those who have come in close contact with an infected person are usually able to receive them. This is a multifold problem, and the fear is that the virus might spill across international borders. Across continents, one powerful news source. Bringing you diverse perspectives on the issues that matter.
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