Mpox declared Public Health Emergency

By Effie Mphande

Mpox, the high infectious disease that used to be called monkeypox, has been declared a public health emergency in Africa by the continent’s top health body.

Scientists from the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) say they are alarmed by the speed at which a new strand of mpox has been spreading.

Since the beginning of the year, more than 13,700 cases and 450 deaths have been recorded in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the virus which causes lesions on the body has spread to Burundi, the Central African Republic (CAR) Kenya and
Rwanda.