The health authorities are already recording significantly more Mpox cases than in the whole of last year. The virus poses a particular danger to children under the age of 15. The aid organization Doctors Without Borders is particularly concerned about the situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
According to authorities, the Mpox virus continues to spread rapidly in several African countries. According to new data from the African Union Health Agency (CDC), 1,200 suspected or confirmed infections with three different Mpox subspecies, including the worrisome strand 1b, were detected in just the past week.
Since the beginning of the year, 18,737 cases have been registered in Africa. That is already significantly more than the 14,383 cases in 2023. According to the CDC, Mpox cases have now been reported from a total of twelve member states of the African Union (AU). So far, 541 deaths have been reported.
The medical aid organization Doctors Without Borders (MSF) is concerned about the speed at which the disease is spreading, particularly in the Democratic Republic of Congo. “In addition to the latest mutation, we are also concerned about the fact that the disease emerged in the refugee camps around Goma, where people live in close quarters and the disease could spread rapidly,” says Jasmin Behrends, a global health expert at the organization Germany. Doctors Without Borders intensified its work with emergency teams in eastern Congo two months ago.
Children are often affected
The World Health Organization (WHO) called on Wednesday because of new Mpox outbreaks in Africa and the emergence of the possibly more dangerous variant 1b, the highest alert level out of. The aim is to encourage authorities around the world to be more vigilant. The disease, known for decades as monkeypox, can be transmitted from animals, but also from person to person through close contact, for example during sex. Symptoms include pox-like pustules on the skin, fever, and body aches.
“Without increased access to vaccines, thousands of people will be unable to receive protection from infection, including children under 15,” said Justin Eyong, Médecins Sans Frontières epidemiological coordinator in the Democratic Republic of Congo. This age group is particularly hard hit by Mpox: children under 15 accounted for 56 percent of all Mpox cases and 79 percent of all deaths this year.
On Thursday, the first European country to report Sweden a case of infection with virus variant 1b. The infected person is a traveler returning from the part of Africa affected by the Mpox outbreak.
