Africa-Press – Mozambique. Mozambican health authorities yesterday confirmed another positive case of mpox in the previous 24 hours, bringing the total to four, all in the northern province of Niassa, in addition to 20 suspected cases.
The latest daily bulletin on the disease’s evolution, released by the National Directorate of Public Health and containing data from July 11 to 15, states that in addition to the four positive cases, there are nine cases in isolation and 27 contacts “being monitored” by health authorities.
In the previous 24 hours, in addition to the fourth confirmed case – also in Lago district – five more suspected cases of the disease were added, to Niassa and also in Tete province, which have not yet been tested.
The bulletin indicates that no deaths have been recorded in this mpox outbreak in Mozambique to date.
The Mozambican government confirmed on Tuesday that the confirmed cases of M-pox originated in neighbouring Malawi, where the outbreak has already affected approximately fifty people.
“These are three nationals [the fourth case was confirmed today] who travelled from Malawi to Mozambique,” said the spokesperson for the Council of Ministers, Inocêncio Impissa, at the end of the Council of Ministers meeting held in Beira, Sofala province.
Impissa also stated that the authorities have the situation “under control” and have taken measures to prevent the disease from spreading beyond the border district to other parts of the country.
“What the country [Mozambique] has done is quarantine them, so that they can be monitored in isolation and prevent them from spreading the disease. The health sector is vigilant and is creating conditions to ensure that cases do not leave the district of Lago [Niassa] and spread to Mozambicans,” Impissa said.
The Ministry of Health previously stated that the confirmed mpox patients “are clinically stable and are in home isolation, under monitoring by health authorities”.
A source at the Ministry of Health confirmed to Lusa that these are the first cases of mpox in Mozambique in the current outbreak, which is affecting several countries in the African region. They noted that from January 1st to July 8th, 77,458 cases of the disease were reported in 22 countries, resulting in 501 deaths.
The first cases in the previous mpox outbreak in Mozambique were first recorded in 2022, in Maputo.
In the southern African region, which includes Mozambique, cases have previously been reported in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Angola, Malawi, South Africa, Tanzania, and Zambia.
Mpox is a zoonotic viral disease, first identified in 1970 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
In August 2024, the World Health Organization declared mpox a Public Health Emergency of International Concern for the second time, due to the increase in the number of cases, deaths, and geographic spread, the Mozambican Ministry of Health recalls.
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