The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) has announced that governments and donors have committed approximately one billion dollars to combat the ongoing Mpox outbreak across Africa, with the United States pledging five million dollars. Director-General of Africa CDC, Dr.
Jean Kaseya, highlighted the urgent need for improved surveillance and understanding of the virus during a media briefing on Friday.
Dr. Kaseya revealed that the continent’s response faces numerous challenges, including inadequate surveillance, limited testing, and poor contact tracing, with only four per cent of contacts being successfully traced. This inefficiency has made it difficult to contain the virus’s spread.
The Africa CDC and the World Health Organization (WHO) are coordinating efforts to manage the outbreak, and a meeting is planned with U.S. Health Secretary Xavier Becerra to discuss the allocation of the pledged funds.
These funds are intended to support key areas such as training frontline health workers, strengthening disease surveillance, and improving laboratory diagnostics and clinical management.
In addition to financial support, 4.3 million vaccine doses have been donated, with Japan contributing three million doses to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which has been the epicenter of the outbreak.
The U.S. also pledged an additional one million doses. However, logistical challenges, such as poor infrastructure and ongoing conflict in the DRC, have slowed vaccine distribution.
Kaseya also raised concerns about potential cross-border transmission, particularly through truck drivers, who played a major role in spreading HIV across Africa.
Uganda, with 212 suspected Mpox cases, is a key area of concern due to high cross-border movement, while Tanzania’s lack of reported cases raises questions about its surveillance capabilities.
Kaseya stressed the need to bolster surveillance by increasing the number of community health workers, with plans to deploy 40,000 in the DRC. He also pointed out the under-researching of Mpox Clade I, which is common in Africa, and has mutated into the more infectious Clade Ib. This strain has no rapid diagnostic test, further complicating response efforts.
Chief of Staff at Africa CDC, Dr. Ngashi Ngongo, added that priority groups for vaccination include healthcare workers, close contacts of confirmed cases, and key populations such as commercial sex workers, men who have sex with men, children, and individuals with weakened immune systems, including those living with HIV.
Ngongo emphasized that weak contact tracing continues to hinder efforts, with health workers only tracing around three per cent of contacts. The lack of integration of community health workers into the response has further weakened the capacity to track and contain the virus.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), 15 African countries have reported Mpox cases this year, with an additional 15 considered vulnerable.
Over 32,000 suspected cases have been reported since the start of the year, but fewer than one-fifth have been confirmed, reflecting significant gaps in testing and surveillance.
Mpox has been endemic to Central and West Africa for decades, but the spread of Clade Ib, particularly through sexual and close physical contact, has raised alarm due to the infection and death of hundreds of children.
