By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The Department of Health confirmed on Sunday that mpox cases in South Africa had increased from 22 to 24, with two more laboratory-confirmed cases having been detected in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal.
The total number of deaths remains at three.
National Health spokesperson, Foster Mohale, says the two newest cases were recorded in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal.
“Case 23 is a 36-year-old man from KwaZulu-Natal who was admitted at local public health facility in Durban late in July after he experienced Mpox-like rash and along with fatigue, muscle pain and rigor. The patient has no international travel history.
“Case 24 is a 20-year-old man from Gauteng who was seen at a private health facility in Johannesburg on Friday, 2 August. The case presented with typical Mpox lesions. He confirmed that he has international travel history to Peru in South America. It is uncertain if exposure occurred in Peru or South Africa.”
Mohale adds that the recent cases come 26 days since the last cases of Mpox were reported in the country.
“According to the World Health Organization multi-country Mpox outbreak, Peru is amongst countries with high numbers of positive cases in the region of the Americas.
“Contact tracing and monitoring activities are ongoing in the affected communities in both provinces, and the Department urges all the identified contacts to cooperate with health officials during contact tracing for screening and possible diagnosis to prevent further transmission of this preventable and treatable disease.”
He adds out of the 22 cases recorded between 8 May and 6 July, 19 have fully recovered.
“All people with suspected symptoms are reminded to visit the nearest healthcare facility right away for clinical evaluation, diagnosis and treatment options, instead of self-diagnosing and isolation.
The Department also confirmed the arrival of another batch of Tecovirimat, also known as TPOXX donated by the World Health Organization as part of ongoing support to the country’s response efforts to this preventable and manageable disease.”
The World Health Organization’s chief said Sunday he was considering convening an expert committee to advise on whether the growing mpox outbreak in Africa should be declared an international emergency.
WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the UN health agency and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, among others, were increasing their response to the outbreak.
“As a deadlier strain of mpox spreads to multiple African countries, WHO, Africa CDC, local governments and partners are further scaling up the response to interrupt disease transmission,” Tedros said on social media platform X.
“But more funding and support for a comprehensive response are needed.
“I am considering convening an International Health Regulations emergency committee to advise me on whether the outbreak of mpox should be declared a public health emergency of international concern.”
A PHEIC is the highest alarm the WHO can sound. Tedros, as WHO director-general, can declare such an emergency on the advice of the committee.
International Health Regulations are the legally-binding framework for responding to public health emergencies.
Formerly known as monkeypox, mpox is an infectious disease caused by a virus transmitted to humans by infected animals that can also be passed from human to human through close physical contact.
Mpox was first discovered in humans in 1970 in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
A global mpox outbreak two years ago led the WHO to declare a PHEIC, which lasted from July 2022 to May 2023.