Special Briefing on Mpox & Health Emergencies in Africa | Oct. 24, 2024

Weekly Special Press Briefing #12
Speakers: Dr Ngashi Ngongo, Manager, Incident Management Team, AfricaCDC
Dr. Sabin Nsanzimana, Hon. Minister of Health, Rwanda

Date: October 24, 2024,

Monkeypox is a rare viral zoonotic disease caused by a double stranded DNA virus that belongs to the Orthopoxvirus genus of the Poxviridae family. The disease presents with symptoms similar to smallpox but with a lesser severity. There are two known clades of the virus: clade I and clade II. The clade I, which is most frequently reported from countries in central Africa, tends to be more severe than clade II.

Marburg virus disease (MVD) is a severe and often fatal zoonotic haemorrhagic illness caused by the Marburg virus. The virus is usually transmitted to humans from fruit bats. Human-to-human transmission occurs through direct contact with an infected person’s body fluids, or with equipment and materials contaminated with infectious blood or tissues. The same infection prevention and control protocols used for other viral haemorrhagic fevers, such as Ebola, should be followed to prevent transmission.