Addis Ababa, Sep 5
The death toll from Africa's ongoing mpox outbreak is approaching 2,000 since the beginning of 2024, amid recent "encouraging" decline in the number of cases, according to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC).
During an online media briefing on Thursday evening, Yap Boum II, deputy incident manager for mpox at the Africa CDC, said that 29 mpox-affected African countries have reported 185,994 cases since the start of last year. Of these, 51,969 were confirmed, and 1,987 related deaths were recorded.
Data from the African Union's specialised healthcare agency showed that the continent has reported 105,697 mpox cases so far in 2025, surpassing last year's total of 80,297.
Due to improving continental mpox response efforts, the Africa CDC witnessed a "continuous decline" in both confirmed and suspected cases over the past weeks, especially when compared to this year's peak season recorded around May.