Monrovia — The Head of the Incident Management Support Team at the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), Dr. Ngashi Ngongo, has disclosed that Africa has recorded 141,000 suspected cases of Mpox, with over 35,000 confirmed.
Dr. Ngongo revealed that 94% of all confirmed Mpox cases on the continent are concentrated in four countries: the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, Sierra Leone, and Burundi.
Focusing on Sierra Leone, Dr. Ngongo reported that the country has recorded 4,032 cases, with 3,140 confirmed and 15 deaths, representing 53% of all newly confirmed Mpox cases on the continent over the past three weeks.
He further announced that 2.5 million doses of the Mpox vaccine have been released to Africa, with 11 countries receiving vaccines and 7 currently rolling out vaccination programs. He noted that Africa CDC is working to meet the target of 6.4 million doses needed to eradicate Mpox across the continent. So far, 500,000 doses are available for distribution to countries hardest hit.
Out of the available doses, 50,000 have been allocated to Sierra Leone to vaccinate individuals exposed to the virus. Dr. Ngongo also stated that technical experts will be deployed to strengthen Sierra Leone's surveillance and incident management systems.
Despite these efforts, Mpox cases continue to rise in several parts of the continent, prompting Dr. Ngongo to issue a call to action for African governments and global health partners to intensify the fight against the disease.
