Mpox (Monkeypox) Outbreak - Africa
Recent Developments
01As of March 2025, ongoing outbreaks in 15 African Union states, with 6 clade Ib cases confirmed in South Africa linked to Uganda travel
02Over 2.9 million mpox vaccine doses distributed across Africa since mid-2024, primarily to DRC
0311 clade I cases in US since November 2024, including 3 in October 2025 linked to Africa travel
Interventions
- Africa CDC's 25-member Incident Management Team supporting affected countries
- Partnership with European Commission and Bavarian Nordic for 215,000+ MVA-BN vaccine doses, equitably distributed
- Expanded laboratory capacity in DRC to 23 labs across 12 provinces as of July 2025
What Works
- Vaccine distribution of over 2.9 million doses across Africa, with majority to DRC, aiding response
- Diagnostic expansion in DRC from 2 to 23 labs, improving urban testing with near-point-of-care tests
How to Help
- Donate to Africa CDC, WHO, or MSF for mpox surveillance and vaccine efforts
- Support UNICEF and partners for contact tracing and community response in affected areas
- Advocate for increased international funding via representatives for African health security
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Verified Organizations
Organizations Helping(9)
CDC collaborates with partners in affected African countries on disease surveillance, laboratory capacity-building, workforce training, case investigation, case management, infection prevention and control, and vaccine strategy. They trained 80 field epidemiologists in DRC for case detection, contact tracing, community awareness, specimen collection, and healthcare worker training. CDC coordinates technical assistance in laboratory, surveillance, risk communication, community engagement, psychosocial support, and vaccine planning, while increasing testing sites, improving specimen transport, and strengthening emergency systems.
Africa CDC co-leads the continent-wide mpox response with WHO under a unified plan, budget, and monitoring framework. Their Mpox Continental Preparedness and Response Plan addresses ten pillars: coordination and leadership, risk communication and community engagement, surveillance, laboratory systems, case management, infection prevention and control, vaccination, research and innovation, operations support and logistics, and continuity of essential services, tailored for highly impacted and at-risk countries to contain cross-border transmission.
WHO maintains global mpox surveillance, provides response guidance, supports diagnostics and vaccine access via the International Coordinating Group (ICG) for mpox vaccines, and evaluates rapid diagnostic tests. In the African Region, they support a continental response across all pillars including surveillance, diagnostics in most countries, and vaccine delivery to 16 countries for at-risk populations. They also focus on communication, community engagement, case detection, treatment, laboratory confirmation, transmission containment, health supplies, and health worker protection.
IDSA tackles the mpox crisis through expert analysis and advocacy, publishing detailed reports on the African epidemic including clade Ib dynamics, calling for urgent increases in vaccine and diagnostic access, recommending research into antiviral treatments and mutation risks, and urging global funding for surveillance, contact tracing, and community health worker deployment in epicenters like DRC, Malawi, and Sierra Leone.
