As of November 17, 2024, about 13,000 laboratories within the African continent had confirmed cases of mpox. The countries with the most confirmed cases in Africa have been Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Uganda, which account for about 97% of all reported cases. From reinforcing outbreak control measures, including health worker training, to the delivery of medical supplies and equipment and to the development of vaccine deployment plans, the World Health Organisation (WHO) is providing critical technical and financial support to countries to effectively respond to and end the mpox outbreaks in the region.

While much of the focus has been on those countries whose populations are at higher risk of exposure to mpox due to larger outbreaks, WHO is also supporting States experiencing sporadic cases. With WHO support, most countries in the region that have been affected by mpox this year have successfully prevented a small number of isolated cases from spreading more widely among their populations and taking on epidemic proportions.  

By the time Ghana reported its first mpox case of the year on October 1, 2024, public awareness of the virus was already elevated due to weeks of risk communication and community engagement through WHO-sponsored social media campaigns. Rapid contact tracing and testing were conducted to ensure that the virus had not spread beyond the household, early actions that helped contain the disease. Police and immigration officials at key points of entry have also received training on how to recognise the signs of mpox to prevent the virus from being imported into the country. 

WHO has also provided personal protective equipment and other medical supplies to the Ministry of Health; installed thermal cameras at multiple points of entry to Gabon; trained 72 officials at points of entry—including police officers, customs workers and health workers—to recognise mpox symptoms and isolate patients; and provided technical guidance to key ministerial officials. These measures have helped limit the number of lab-confirmed mpox cases in 2024 to just two.

Similar contact tracing efforts were initiated in Guinea after a seven-year-old child was confirmed to have been infected with the clade 2b subvariant of mpox on September 2. Almost all the 91 identified contacts were fully followed up, with diagnostic tests revealing no further transmission of the virus.

Within days of the first mpox case being declared, Guinea’s national health authorities published a response plan with technical input from WHO. In Macenta, where the case was discovered, WHO provided training to staff in 18 health centres and two hospitals to emphasise appropriate infection prevention and control measures that can be used to limit the spread of infection within health facilities. WHO is also continuously supporting laboratories across the country with training and equipment necessary to monitor mpox and a host of other diseases. 

Across Africa, 14 countries—the DRC, Burundi, Uganda, Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire, Central African Republic, Ghana, Liberia, Rwanda, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Mauritius, Zambia, and Angola—are still assessed to have active transmission of mpox, a viral disease endemic to Central and West Africa. All require further enhancement of disease surveillance measures. High levels of mobility on the continent, the emergence of the particularly infectious clade 1b subvariant in 2023 and the persistent risk of zoonotic transmission are all causes for continued vigilance, even in countries where cases have been successfully contained.

(WHO AFRICA)