The African Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) has warned that the Monkeypox outbreak in Africa remains out of control, with cases continuing to rise in several countries. The World Health Organization recently declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern after the identification of a new variant. Countries across the continent are struggling to respond to this new large-scale outbreak, especially following the Covid-19 pandemic, which exposed the weaknesses of healthcare systems unprepared for a major public health crisis. Data from Africa CDC shows that Monkeypox cases in Africa have surged by 177%, with deaths increasing by 38.5% compared to the same period last year. Jean Kaseya, Director General of Africa CDC, said in a weekly briefing on the outbreak, “We can say today that Monkeypox is not under control in Africa. We are still seeing this rise in cases, which is concerning us all. » In just one week, 2912 new cases were reported, including one in a new country, Morocco, confirming the spread of the disease across all four regions of the continent. So far, 15 out of 55 African Union countries have reported cases of the disease. Rwanda has started a vaccination campaign, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, the epicenter of the outbreak, is set to begin vaccinations in early October.
