Mpox Outbreak Declared Public Health Emergency in Africa
The Africa Center for Disease Control and the World Health Organization (WHO) have declared the Mpox disease a Public Health Emergency of Continental Security (PHECS) after 13 countries, including Liberia, reported 17,541 cases and 517 deaths.
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has been hit the hardest, accounting for 96% of all cases and 97% of all deaths reported in 2024. Investigations in the DRC suggest that heterosexual transmission, especially among female sex workers (9%), is driving the outbreak.
In Liberia, six cases have been reported by the National Public Health Institute of Liberia (NPHIL). While no deaths have been reported, the country is taking steps to contain the outbreak. “We have seen the previous report that we have 5 cases, but just in the last 3 days, a case that was suspected on the 4th of July in Nimba County was not tested because of the lack of testing kits at that time,” said Dr. Dougbeh Chris Nyan, NPHIL’s Director-General. “Just recently, we got some testing kits in country supply from the WHO, so we were able to test that case sample immediately and get proof that case immediately and get proof to have been positive.”
Mpox is a disease caused by the monkeypox virus, which was first discovered in Denmark in 1958 in monkeys kept for research. The first reported human case was a nine-month-old boy in the DRC in 1970. The disease is transmitted through direct skin-to-skin contact, sexual contact with bodily fluids or lesions found around the anus, rectum, or vagina from an infected person, and through respiratory secretions and droplets.
Symptoms of mpox include rash, fever, sore throat, headache, muscle aches, back pain, low energy, and swollen lymph nodes. While mpox shares some similarities with chickenpox, the two diseases have different transmission modes, prevention methods, signs, and symptoms. “Monkey pox (mpox) is among the smallpox viruses. It is similar to smallpox, but it is different from chickenpox,” said Dr. Nyan.
The WHO declared the mpox virus an outbreak in 2022 after countries including Europe reported a high number of cases. The disease was formerly known as monkey pox, but was renamed in 2022 to avoid discrimination since it is found in animals.
