(Bloomberg) -- The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said mpox is spreading rapidly in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s capital Kinshasa, a city of 17 million people, and a case in Ghana brings to 16 the number of countries on the continent affected by the outbreak.
So far 616 suspected cases have been recorded in the city of which 171 have been confirmed, the Africa CDC said in a presentation on Thursday. While no deaths have been registered in the city, the outbreak is being driven by both clade Ia, which has been circulating for decades and the newer more infectious sub-variant, clade Ib.
“The number of cases in Kinshasa is increasing, prompting the need for urgent intervention,” Africa CDC said.
While mpox has been endemic to central and west Africa for decades, this year’s outbreak that began in eastern Congo has raised concerns because of the apparent spread of Ib though sexual and close physical contact, leading to the infection and death of hundreds of children. Kinshasa, a tightly-packed city, has air links to many parts of the world.
So far this year, more than 34,000 suspected cases of the disease, caused by both clades have been reported across Africa, more than triple the number recorded at the same time in 2023. As many as 95% of the cases are in Congo and Burundi and 866 people have died.
About 5.9 million mpox vaccines have been pledged to Africa with an immunization campaign due to begin in Congo on Oct. 5. The continent will also get a total of $1.1 billion in assistance including $500 million from the US, Africa CDC head Jean Kaseya said at the presentation. A decision will be taken this week on how to allocate the US funds of which 60% are new and the rest re-purposed from other programs, he said.
At the same time as the mpox outbreak is spreading, Rwanda, where the disease has also been found, seven days ago reported its first ever infections of the deadly Marburg virus.
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