Countries across Africa are on guard as a more severe strain of mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, has killed 1300 people in the Democractic Republic of Congo and sickened more than 100,000. The deadly outbreak of the strain which can kill one in every ten people infected, prompted the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) and World Health Organization (WHO) to declare a global health emergency. By Gloria Wleh with New Narratives Mpox has been present in countries around the world for decades.
An outbreak of the less deadly strain known as Clade 2 infected people across the world in 2022-2023. The National Public Health Institute of Liberia confirmed six people have been sickened with mpox in Liberia since August. More suspected cases are being monitored.
Patients have been in Lofa, Sinoe and River Gee counties. “Out of the six cases that were confirmed, two have recovered, two are still in isolation and the other two are still being treated on home based care,” said Dr. Dougbeh Nyan, Liberia Public Health Institute Director.
The government has not yet confirmed that it is the more severe strain known as Clade 1. The Clade 2 strain has been present in Liberia previously and had a lower death rate of one to three percent of people infected. Given Liberia’s weak health system and previous experiences with the 2014 Ebola outbreak, the government says it is taking this threat very seriously.
Dr Nyan has set aside $US500,000 to $US1.5 million in the .
