Over 1,800 mpox deaths reported in Africa amid health emergencies

Addis Ababa, June 21 (IANS) The death toll from Africa's ongoing mpox outbreak has surpassed 1,800, as the number of cases reported since the beginning of 2024 approaches the 150,000 mark, according to the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC).

During an online media briefing on Thursday evening, Ngashi Ngongo, chief of staff and head of the Executive Office at the Africa CDC, said that 26 mpox-affected African countries have reported 148,308 mpox cases since the start of last year. Of these, 40,674 were confirmed and some 1,816 related deaths were recorded.

Data from the African Union (AU)'s specialised healthcare agency showed that last week alone, the continent reported 2,715 new cases, including 822 confirmed ones and 20 new related deaths.

Ngongo expressed concern over the rapid spike in the number of mpox cases in Sierra Leone, as the West African country accounted for 40 percent of all confirmed cases recorded across Africa during the past week.

Meanwhile, the Africa CDC has raised the alarm regarding the increasing trend of public health emergencies occurring throughout the continent.

"We have so far (in 2025) accounted about 132 moderate-to-high risk public health events on the continent. If we compare this with the total numbers we had last year, which were 219, it shows that we are already gearing toward exceeding that number in 2025, which is really a confirmation that Africa remains on the increasing trend when it comes to public health events," Ngongo said.

Data from the Africa CDC showed that some 22 African countries have reported a total of 157,974 cholera cases since the beginning of this year, including 5,998 confirmed cases and over 3,273 associated deaths, Xinhua news agency reported.

The number of cases and fatalities positions cholera as the leading public health concern in Africa, alongside mpox, measles, dengue, and Lassa fever, which are said to be the top five disease outbreaks reported by AU members so far this year.

--IANS

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