The African Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) has expressed concern over the low rate of Mpox testing in Africa, as “cases are steadily increasing in all affected countries.”
As of September 22, a total of 32,407 confirmed cases and 840 deaths have been reported in 15 countries, according to the situation report released on Thursday after the weekly press briefing on the mox outbreak in several African countries.
Signed by Africa CDC Director General Jean Kaseya, the report shows that the Central Africa region accounts for 90 percent of all reported cases, with 28,822 cases and 836 deaths.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) accounts for the majority of cases, with more than 26,267 cases, followed by Burundi, the Central African Republic (CAR), Congo, Uganda, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Kenya, Nigeria and Gabon.
The report noted that overall, there is an increase of more than 194 percent in cases recorded this year compared to the same period in 2023.
Key concerns
The Africa CDC expressed concern about gaps and challenges in surveillance, contact tracing and follow-up; and data quality.
He noted that contact tracing is less than 4 percent and more than 68 percent of cases have an unknown epidemiological link.
Article page with financial support promotion
“Overall, laboratory testing is 49.5 percent, with a lot of variability between countries and drops in highly affected countries, compared to our goal of 80 percent,” he noted.
He also said the testing rate remains below 80 percent in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi, Congo, Liberia and Kenya, emphasizing the need for improved surveillance, contact tracing, laboratory testing and expansion.
Situation in Nigeria
According to the Africa CDC situation report, Nigeria ranks ninth among the 15 countries affected by the current outbreak.
As of September 15, Nigeria has recorded a total of 1,100 detected cases with no deaths in 51 local government areas (LGAs) across 23 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
While the Africa CDC noted that vaccine doses are being distributed to Rwanda, South Africa, the Central African Republic, Burundi and Cameroon, Nigeria also received a donation of 10,000 doses of Jynneos, an Mpox vaccine, from the US government.
The Africa CDC added that the research response is being planned for the planned rollout of the MVA vaccines.