South Africa confirmed a new case of monkeypox (Mpox) on Monday, raising the country’s total to 25 cases, including three fatalities, according to the Ministry of Health. The latest patient has no history of international travel or known contact with a suspected or confirmed case of Mpox, said ministry spokesperson Foster Mohale. The current distribution of cases includes 12 in Gauteng, 11 in KwaZulu-Natal, and two in the Western Cape.
Mohale assured that South Africa has sufficient vaccine supplies to manage the outbreak, based on the current number of active cases. Earlier this year, the country received doses of Tecovirimat (TPOXX), donated by the World Health Organization (WHO) to aid South Africa’s response to this preventable and manageable disease.
In addition to South Africa’s efforts, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) recently announced the arrival of 99,100 doses of the Jynneos Mpox vaccine in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which is facing the largest outbreak of monkeypox since September 2023. This surge is attributed to the new clade I MPXV variant. Since the start of 2024, the DRC has reported over 4,901 cases and 629 deaths, marking a sharp increase from previous years.
According to WHO, Mpox is a viral disease caused by the monkeypox virus, presenting symptoms like a skin rash, fever, headaches, muscle pain, back pain, fatigue, and swollen lymph nodes. The rash can last up to four weeks. South Africa and Côte d’Ivoire are experiencing the spread of the clade II variant, considered less deadly. Meanwhile, Cameroon and the DRC are the only countries where both clade I and clade II variants are being reported.
