Southern and Eastern Africa: MPOX situation snapshot (As of 26 Sep 2024)

OVERVIEW

A total of 801 cases of mpox have been confirmed in Southern and Eastern Africa, including Burundi (739), Kenya (7), Rwanda (6), Uganda (24), and South Africa (25) as of 26 September. Health partners highlighted that the actual numbers might be higher as a significant number of suspected cases are not tested due to limited diagnostic capacity. Some of the countries in the region, especially Uganda and Burundi, host large numbers of internally displaced people and refugees, and some camps and settlements are overcrowded with limited access to essential services and housing. This is impacting preventive and control efforts. Further, stigma associated with the disease poses a barrier to seeking healthcare, risking a delayed diagnosis and treatment.

Response and preparedness efforts are ongoing in all affected and at-risk countries. Partners and authorities in Rwanda launched a vaccination campaign in high-risk areas neighbouring the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) is allocating vaccine doses to affected countries. To prevent further spread of the diseases, risk communication, and community engagement activities are being conducted in public gatherings and schools. Training of healthcare workers, surveillance, testing, infection prevention and control, case management, and treatment are also ongoing. Health partners are working with authorities to provide water, sanitation, and hygiene support to healthcare facilities as well as deploying healthcare professionals and scaling up essential healthcare services and preparedness.

While donors have generously scaled up support to complement governments and partners response efforts, gaps remain. The Pandemic Fund allocated more than $79 million towards preparedness and response efforts in Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, Kenya, South Sudan, Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia, and Djibouti. Other donors have signalled their intention to provide additional funding. Africa CDC noted that an estimated 10 million doses of mpox vaccines are needed for the continent, while more resources are required to sustain awareness raising.