A test tube labelled “Mpox virus positive” is held in this illustration taken August 20, 2024
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Africa has secured less than 10% of the estimated USD 245 million it needs to fight a surging mpox outbreak on the continent, a senior official from the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said on Wednesday, August 28, 2024.

The continent is under pressure to curb an outbreak of the potentially deadly infection that the World Health Organization (WHO) declared to be a global health emergency in mid-August, after a new strain began proliferating from the Democratic Republic of Congo to neighbouring countries.

The Africa CDC has pulled together a budget to determine the amount of money available for the mpox response and the resources it needs to mobilise. “We’ve come to the first estimate of USD 245 million,” Africa CDC Chief of Staff Ngashi Ngongo said at a WHO meeting in the Republic of Congo’s capital Brazzaville.

The Democratic Republic of Congo’s government has committed USD 10 million to support the fight against the outbreak while the African Union has approved USD 10.4 million, Ngongo said. Therefore, about USD 20 million is currently available for the response, he said, adding that these figures would be updated.

“The current gap where we stand today is about USD 224 million that we are looking for,” he said.

Jean Kaseya, director general of Africa CDC, said during the meeting that the organisation was moving towards securing almost 1 million doses of mpox vaccine.

Those include 215,000 doses from vaccine maker Bavarian Nordic, 100,000 doses from France, almost 100,000 doses from Germany and about 500,000 doses from Spain. There is no timeline yet on when the vaccines might reach the Democratic Republic of Congo, which is the most affected by the virus.

Mpox, a viral infection that causes pus-filled lesions and flu-like symptoms, is usually mild but can kill.

Stockholm:

The World Health Organization said more imported Clade 1 mpox cases were likely to be confirmed in Europe soon, after Sweden on Thursday announced the first such case outside Africa.

“The confirmation of mpox Clade 1 in Sweden is a clear reflection of the interconnectedness of our world… there are likely to be further imported cases of Clade 1 in the European region over the coming days and weeks,” the WHO’s European regional office said in a statement.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

DR Congo:

An mpox outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo has killed 548 people since the start of the year, with all provinces affected by the virus, the health minister said on Thursday in a statement.

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday declared the mpox surge in Africa a global public health emergency, worried by the rise in cases in DRC and the spread to nearby countries.

“According to the latest epidemiological report, our country has recorded 15,664 potential cases and 548 deaths since the beginning of the year,” Health Minister Samuel-Roger Kamba said in a separate video message seen by AFP on Thursday.

The DRC is made up of 26 provinces and has a population of around 100 million.

The most affected provinces are South Kivu, North Kivu, Tshopo, Equateur, North Ubangi, Tshuapa, Mongala and Sankuru, Kamba said.

The UN health agency’s decision came the day after the African Union’s health watchdog declared its own public health emergency over the growing outbreak.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)