Africa should research the long-term sequelae of mpox.
Loading...
Date
2024-10
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
The Lancent Global Health.
Abstract
In July, 2022, WHO declared mpox—a viral zoonotic illness—a public health emergency of international concern, due to the rising number of cases and its spread to many countries outside Africa.1 By May, 2023, reported cases of mpox had reduced in regions outside Africa, leading to the lifting of the emergency declaration. In August, 2023, the WHO Director-called upon state parties to develop national mpox plans that incorporated lessons learned, to strengthen laboratory-based surveillance, to enhance community protection through risk communication, and to comprehensively support research for prevention and control.2 However, mpox remains a critical public health problem in Africa, where it was first identified among humans in 1970, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo).3
Description
Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, Kinshasa, Democratic
Republic of the Congo (AK, NE); Clarke International University, Kampala,
Uganda (AK); World Health Organization, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the
Congo (BNA); Democratic Republic of the Congo National Institute of Public
Health, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DK); National Mpox and
Viral Hemorrhagic Fevers Control Program, Ministry of Health, Kinshasa,
Democratic Republic of Congo (CK); Institut National de Recherche Biomédicale,
Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo (EHV); Institute of Tropical Medicine,
Antwerp, Belgium (LL); Department of Community Health, Faculty of Medicine,
Mbarara University of Science and Technology, Mbarara, Uganda (JI); Africa
Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (NN
Keywords
M.pox, Africa