Guinea has become the latest West African nation to report a case of mpox. The country’s Ministry of Health confirmed the detection of the first case on Wednesday, without providing additional details.
In response to the discovery, the health minister convened an emergency meeting with ministry partners to discuss preparedness and response plans. The National Health Security Agency presented its strategy, including a budget allocation for mpox mitigation efforts.
A ministry official, speaking anonymously, revealed that the confirmed case was found in the Koyama sub-prefecture,located near the border with Liberia.
The resurgence of mpox, coupled with the identification of a new strain in the Democratic Republic of Congo, prompted the World Health Organization (WHO) to raise its international alert level to the highest possible on August 14. Cases have been surging in the region, with outbreaks reported in several countries including the DRC, Burundi, Rwanda, and Uganda.
Mpox has also been detected in Asia and Europe.
To address the growing threat, the African Union’s health watchdog announced that the DRC will receive a shipment of nearly 100,000 doses of mpox vaccines on Thursday.
Since the beginning of the year, the WHO has documented over 17,500 cases and 629 deaths related to mpox in the DRC alone.
Mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, is a viral illness transmitted to humans through infected animals or through close physical contact with an infected person. Symptoms include fever, muscle aches, and skin lesions.