sharon sanders
Editor-in-Chief & President
2024 All Clades:
Cumulative cases = 32,407
Test confirmed cases = 6,441
Deaths = 840
194% increase in cases over the case number by this time in 2023.
In epi week 37:
2,910 new cases indicated,
436 new cases confirmed,
16 new deaths but there is a "backlog" of 86 deaths (I think to be tested but are highly suspected to be mpox.)
Test rate in Africa is 49.5%.
Test rate remains below 80% in DRC, Burundi, Congo, Liberia, Kenya.
Contact tracing in <4% of cases.
Over 68% of cases have unknown epidemiological link.
The US has a team (10 people) assembled and is going to commit 1 million vaccine doses and 500 million dollars to mpox efforts in Africa. Also a Reuters link from Sept. 24.
Some comments by Dr. Kaseya, Director of Africa CDC:
1)"Surveillance is weak." There would be more than 15 affected countries in Africa if testing was more wide spread.
2)Referring to the UAE traveler to India mpox case: "Somehow we missed something" & "Assume 1b is circulating in this (UAE) country" based on conversations with India officials.
3)A small rant (Don't blame him! s.s.) about lack of global interest when clade II was predominant. Complaining there is no rapid test to distinguish between clade I and II as a result. Basically now playing a catch-up situation. Now wants no past blame but just get global community to come together on this now.
4) Questions whether Tanzania really does not have any cases given its location to hot spots. i.e WHO DON rpt:
5) "Kenya - On 29 July 2024, the Ministry of Health confirmed a case of mpox in Taita Taveta County bordering Tanzania. The patient is a 42-year-old Kenyan male residing in Kiambu County (neighbouring Nairobi). The case has a history of travel from Kampala, Uganda, to Mombasa, Kenya, and at the time of identification, the patient was travelling to Rwanda through Tanzania." link
6) Africa CDC is developing a dashboard with relevant data.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MakGj1VB1oM
Cumulative cases = 32,407
Test confirmed cases = 6,441
Deaths = 840
194% increase in cases over the case number by this time in 2023.
In epi week 37:
2,910 new cases indicated,
436 new cases confirmed,
16 new deaths but there is a "backlog" of 86 deaths (I think to be tested but are highly suspected to be mpox.)
Test rate in Africa is 49.5%.
Test rate remains below 80% in DRC, Burundi, Congo, Liberia, Kenya.
Contact tracing in <4% of cases.
Over 68% of cases have unknown epidemiological link.
The US has a team (10 people) assembled and is going to commit 1 million vaccine doses and 500 million dollars to mpox efforts in Africa. Also a Reuters link from Sept. 24.
Some comments by Dr. Kaseya, Director of Africa CDC:
1)"Surveillance is weak." There would be more than 15 affected countries in Africa if testing was more wide spread.
2)Referring to the UAE traveler to India mpox case: "Somehow we missed something" & "Assume 1b is circulating in this (UAE) country" based on conversations with India officials.
3)A small rant (Don't blame him! s.s.) about lack of global interest when clade II was predominant. Complaining there is no rapid test to distinguish between clade I and II as a result. Basically now playing a catch-up situation. Now wants no past blame but just get global community to come together on this now.
4) Questions whether Tanzania really does not have any cases given its location to hot spots. i.e WHO DON rpt:
5) "Kenya - On 29 July 2024, the Ministry of Health confirmed a case of mpox in Taita Taveta County bordering Tanzania. The patient is a 42-year-old Kenyan male residing in Kiambu County (neighbouring Nairobi). The case has a history of travel from Kampala, Uganda, to Mombasa, Kenya, and at the time of identification, the patient was travelling to Rwanda through Tanzania." link
6) Africa CDC is developing a dashboard with relevant data.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MakGj1VB1oM