“span class=”news_bold”>We haven't started vaccinating yet, we will do that in a few days”“The African Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC Africa) has launched a new smallpox outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo,” Jean Kasia, Director-General of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC Africa), said today at the weekly press conference to assess the impact of the new smallpox outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The African Union Public Health Agency is “working with all countries and finalizing continental plans with UNICEF. [Fundo das Nações Unidas para a Infância] World Health Organization [OMS]“To ensure that not a single dose of this expensive vaccine is missed,” Cassia said.
The Africa CDC director said the agency has a “clear plan” to have 10 million doses of smallpox vaccine available to Africans by the end of 2025.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo's Minister of Public Health, Hygiene and Social Welfare, Roger Kamba, announced at a press conference in Kinshasa on Monday that his country expects to receive the first batch of more than three million vaccines donated by Japan, Belgium and the United States by the end of this week.
The drugs will join the response plan announced by Kamba, which plans to spend $49 million (about €44 million) to raise awareness among the population, send teams and treat patients.
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo alone, the epicentre of the current outbreak and where the disease is endemic, 17,794 cases and 535 deaths have been recorded since the beginning of the year, Kasia explained.
This figure represents an increase of 1,030 cases and 24 deaths since the outbreak was declared a public health emergency of continental concern by the Africa CDC last Tuesday.
In total, the African continent has already recorded about 19,000 cases and 540 deaths.
Although the vast majority of cases are recorded in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 12 African Union member states have so far reported 18,910 smallpox cases and 541 deaths in 2024.
Last week, the agency recorded 1,405 additional cases and 24 new deaths – all in the Democratic Republic of the Congo – from smallpox in African Union member states.
Other affected countries, in order of incidence, are Burundi (572 cases, no deaths), Central African Republic (263 cases, no deaths), Republic of the Congo (169 cases, one death), Nigeria (39 cases, no deaths), Cameroon (35 cases, two deaths), South Africa (24 cases, three deaths), Liberia (five cases, no deaths), Rwanda (four cases, no deaths), Uganda (two cases, no deaths), Côte d'Ivoire (two cases, no deaths) and Kenya (one case, no deaths).
Of the 18,910 cases reported so far on the continent, according to the Africa CDC, 3,154 are confirmed by clinical testing and 15,756 are suspected.
Cassia noted that compared to the same period in 2023, infections increased by 104%, while deaths increased by 11%.
Smallpox is a viral disease that spreads from animals to humans, but is also transmitted through close physical contact. The disease causes fever, muscle pain, and skin lesions.
Read also: MBOX. UK aids DRC with $3.5 million to combat epidemic
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