A 30-year-old man who came back from Uganda is Gabon’s first mpox patient. The health ministry announced the case on Friday, August 23, 2024, making Gabon the latest African country to report the infection.
A few days after he returned, the man developed fever and fatigue, followed by a rash. He went to hospital and was isolated on August 21, a Wednesday, on clinical suspicion. CIDRAP said he had spent two weeks in Uganda. The ministry said its surveillance system had flagged six suspected cases, and one sample tested positive.
“The patient is in good condition, and contact tracing is ongoing,” Health Minister Adrien Mougougou said in a statement. He urged people to stay calm and vigilant.
Preparations already in place
The ministry said it began preparing as soon as the disease broke out in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Enhanced epidemiological surveillance, national diagnostic capacity and a multisectoral coordination mechanism have all been activated.
A growing list of countries
Gabon’s case brings the number of African countries affected since the start of the year to at least 14, CIDRAP reported. Africa CDC figures show 17,541 mpox cases and 517 deaths across 13 African countries. The DRC, the epicenter, accounts for 96% of cases and 97% of deaths reported in 2024. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared mpox a public health emergency of international concern on Aug. 14.
A day before Gabon’s announcement, the WHO posted an update calling the spread in the region unprecedented. It said modes of transmission are not fully described but likely include exclusive human-to-human spread, apparently moving through sexual networks and then into households and other settings.
Burundi is the hardest hit of the five countries in that report. As of August 17, officials had logged 474 suspected cases, and 142 of 358 patients tested were positive, identified as the clade 1b virus circulating in eastern DRC. Confirmed cases span 26 of the country’s 49 districts. Bujumbura Nord, an urban area, accounts for roughly one third. Children under 5 make up 60.3% of cases, and no deaths have been reported.
Elsewhere the numbers are small. Kenya confirmed one clade 1b case in a 42-year-old man who had visited Uganda and was traveling through Rwanda to Tanzania. Rwanda reported two cases in July and two more in August. Uganda’s first two confirmed cases, in women aged 37 and 22, were found at a DRC border screening point in July. Ivory Coast has confirmed seven cases this year from three health districts, all of the clade 2 strain.
The WHO has also said Gavi and UNICEF can start buying mpox vaccine before WHO clearance to speed up immunization, according to Reuters. WHO authorization is expected within weeks.
Sources
- Gabon reports first mpox case as WHO details spread in other newly affected nations
- TRT Afrika – Gabon records first case of Mpox
