The Ministry of Health has called for increased vigilance and prompt reporting of individuals with Mpox-like symptoms following the World Health Organization’s declaration that the disease surge constitutes a public health emergency.
Mpox is a self-limiting viral disease which presents with pustules or small boils on the skin. It is also associated with high-grade fever, swelling of lymph nodes, headache and general body weakness.
While addressing Parliament yesterday, Dr Jane Ruth Aceng, the Health minister, said since the beginning of the year, more than 17,000 Mpox cases and more than 500 deaths have been reported in 13 countries in Africa, citing data from the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC).
Dr Aceng said the highest number of cases - more than 14,000 - is in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which reported 96 percent of confirmed cases this month.
She said the other East African countries that have reported Mpox transmission are Burundi, Kenya and Rwanda with Burundi having secondary transmission.
