New weekly cases of mpox across Africa have dropped to around 2,000 for the first time this year giving hope that the outbreak may be waning, according to Dr Jean Kaseya, Director-General of Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC).
In the mpox epicentre of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), new cases dropped to 1,453 – the first time this year that this has been below 2,000 – despite an increase in testing.
There has also been a decrease in confirmed cases in the DRC and a significant increase in contact tracing.
Mpox in health workers – a priority in the continental vaccination efforts – has almost halved since November when over 100 health workers were infected.
Seven countries are currently vaccinating…