Ghana has confirmed its first case of Mpox in 2024, coinciding with a rising number of infections across the continent. The patient is a young boy from the Western North Region, located about 475 kilometers (295 miles) from the capital, Accra. According to Patrick Kuma-Aboagye, the Director-General of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), the child presented symptoms such as a rash, fever, and body pains. Fortunately, he has since been discharged and is in stable condition.
Health officials are closely monitoring 25 individuals who were in contact with the boy. Kuma-Aboagye emphasized that the suspected case was isolated according to established protocols for managing Mpox.
Additionally, around 230 other suspected cases are under investigation in Ghana, prompting health authorities to activate the country's public health emergency systems. “There is no cause for alarm,” Kuma-Aboagye reassured in a telephone interview with AFP.
The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) underscored the urgency of the situation in a press briefing. Jean Kaseya, the head of Africa CDC, reported that over 860 people have died among approximately 34,297 Mpox cases recorded across Africa since January. This week alone, Ghana has reported 38 cases of Mpox.
The Mpox virus exists in two subtypes: clade 1 and clade 2. The more dangerous clade 1 is endemic to the Congo Basin, while clade 2, which is less severe, is known to occur in parts of West Africa. The GHS has not confirmed which subtype was found in this recent case. In 2023, Ghana reported eight Mpox cases, while there were 120 cases in 2022.
Other African nations, including Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Africa, and Ivory Coast, have also documented confirmed cases of Mpox this year.
In August 2024, the Africa CDC declared Mpox a Public Health Emergency of Continental Security (PHECS), following the World Health Organization's classification of the virus as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC).
Mpox is a viral disease related to smallpox, transmitted from animals to humans and can also spread through close contact between individuals. Symptoms typically include fever, body aches, swollen lymph nodes, and a rash that develops into blisters. A new strain, clade 1b, was first identified among sex workers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in September 2023.
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