The World Health Organization (WHO) and Africa Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) have updated their joint response mpox plan for the continent, as health officials in the region see some promising signs of a downturn in cases.
At an Africa CDC briefing today, however, Africa CDC Director-General Jean Kaseya, MD, MPH, warned that mpox is still spreading in Africa.
Health system integration, vaccination, cross-border collaboration
In a statement, the WHO said regional and global support to battle to outbreaks in Africa rose, especially for the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the outbreak's epicenter, after the Africa CDC and WHO declared public health emergencies in August 2024. A 10-pillar WHO and Africa CDC response plan has guided the response efforts, resulting in more diagnostic testing in the DRC.
Response challenges remain, though, such as conflict and insecurity in the eastern DRC and humanitarian aid cuts, the WHO said, adding that $220 million is needed to bridge funding gaps.
The updated plan includes intensified efforts to bring the outbreaks under control--curbing or, when feasible, stopping human-to-human transmission. The plan also lays out concrete steps for integrating the mpox response into routine health services. Other focuses are cross-border collaboration, targeted vaccination, and enhanced community-based surveillance.
Signs of a decline in African outbreaks
At a weekly Africa CDC media briefing today, Kaseya said the region is seeing a meaningful decline in cases, led by drops in some of the main hot spots, such as Burundi and the DRC.
However, he said cases are still on the rise in Uganda, which accounted for 51% of Africa's cases last week and is still averaging about 280 new cases a week. Nearly 47% are from Kampala district. A second round of vaccination is under way, concentrating on five districts and targeting sex networks, long-distance drivers, and people engaged in fishing.
In an encouraging development, in the DRC, enhanced infection prevention and control efforts have cut mpox infections in healthcare workers by 50% since November 2024, Kaseya said.
He said he will convene Africa CDC's mpox emergency committee on May 17 to review the latest data and to assess if the outbreak still warrants a public health emergency of continental security.
The developments come as a new study reveals that the antiviral drug tecovirimat (Tpoxx) has been shown to not be effective at speeding healing (see CIDRAP News story today).
China, Switzerland report imported cases
Kaseya said China on April 4 reported its first clade 1a mpox case, which involves a person who had traveled to the DRC.
Also, he added that Switzerland has reported its first clade 1b case, involving an adult male who had recently traveled to Uganda.
A few weeks earlier, the United Kingdom reported its first clade 1b case in a person without a travel history outside the country.
Officials track anthrax, Ebola, cholera activity
Several countries in Africa are grappling with multiple health threats, among them Uganda, which is handling an anthrax outbreak that began in January. So far, 16 cases have been reported across six districts, with Sembabule district in the central part of the country hardest hit. No deaths have been reported.
Kaseya said that last week the DRC health ministry declared an anthrax outbreak in hippopotamuses in Virunga National Park in North Kivu province, with animal deaths in two neighboring countries: South Sudan and Uganda. The park experienced its last anthrax outbreak in May 2021.
He said cholera cases rose 11.5% last week in an outbreak in Angola, lifting the total to 12,368 cases, 473 of them fatal. He also said if no new Ebola cases are reported in Uganda, its outbreak will be declared over in 11 days, which represents two incubation periods since the last patient was discharged from care.
