As mpox activity continues at a brisk pace in Africa's main hot spots, concerns are rising about an expanding outbreak in Uganda, an official with the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said today.
Over the past week, 2,345 cases were reported across the continent, along with 34 more deaths. The region this year has reported 48,093 cases, a rise of 500% compared to all of 2023, Ngashi Ngongo, MD, PhD, who leads Africa CDC's mpox incident management team, said at the agency's weekly briefing.
He added that, although the region is many months into the outbreak, more firsts were reported this week, including the first case in Mauritius, raising the number of affected countries to 19, and the first death among Uganda's confirmed cases.
Cross-border activity, sexual spread seen in Uganda
Uganda's cases have been rising over the past 4 weeks, with 61 reported in just the past week, Ngongo said. Most of the activity is linked to clade 1b, and the outbreak dynamics are a little different than some of the country's neighbors.
A higher percentage of cases (63%) in Uganda have been reported in males, with a lower proportion in children younger than 15 years old (12.5%), compared to the outbreak's main epicenter, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
Much of Uganda's transmission is due to cross-border and sexual activity, with new clusters reported in fishing communities, Ngongo said. Also, the virus is expanding its footprint in Uganda, with three new districts reporting cases over the past week.
Officials also raised concerns about an uptick in cases in Liberia. However, they noted that five countries have passed 5 weeks with no new cases: Cameroon, Gabon, Guinea, Rwanda, and South Africa.
Initial vaccine uptake is a bright spot
So far, Rwanda and the DRC have launched mpox vaccine campaigns, and Rwanda has reached 100% of its target. The DRC—where immunization is under way in six provinces as well as crowded settings like prisons and refugee camps—has exceeded its initial goal, Ngongo said.
A campaign in Nigeria was expected to begin this week, but it has been delayed by logistical issues. In the DRC, the next vaccination phase, which will target Kinshasa, is slated to begin in early November.
So far, nearly 900,000 doses of Bavarian Nordic's Jynneos vaccine have been allocated to nine African countries.
