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A leading Nigerian infectious disease expert is concerned Africa is working “blindly” to track and contain new mpox virus strains. Earlier this week, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention reported a 200 per cent increase in infections, bringing the total to more than 22,800 cases and 622 deaths on the continent. Dr Dimie Ogoina, who has chaired the World Health Organization’s emergency mpox committee, said he was concerned that the potentially fatal virus appears to be mutating without enough available resources (like vaccines) to stop the outbreak. After decades of spreading undetected, the new variant is believed to be transmissible through close contact among children and other vulnerable people – not just sexual transmission. The majority of mpox cases and deaths are in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where most infections are in children under 15. The WHO has said available data to date does not suggest the new form of mpox is more dangerous, but that research continues.
