Mpox outbreak grows in Africa

Transcript

MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:

The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention is poised to do something it has never done before - declare a public health emergency for the African continent. The concern is the virus called Mpox, and the World Health Organization is also considering an emergency declaration. NPR's Gabrielle Emanuel joins me now. Welcome.

GABRIELLE EMANUEL, BYLINE: Thank you.

KELLY: So Mpox - monkey pox - was in the news - what? - a couple of years ago, 2022. There was an outbreak - swept the globe. But it has not been making headlines lately, at least here in the U.S. What's going on?

EMANUEL: Yes. So all of those headlines are largely happening in Africa, particularly in the Democratic Republic of Congo. That country is facing its worst outbreak of Mpox ever. The majority of the 14,000 cases are in kids, and there have been hundreds of deaths so far this year - many more than all of last year. And what's prompting the health authorities to think about making these emergency declarations is that Mpox is just starting to show up in nearby countries that have never previously reported cases. So I'm talking about Rwanda, Kenya, Uganda. And they are also worried because the virus seems to be evolving. It's doing new things.

KELLY: Doing new things - that sounds ominous. Like what? How is the virus changing?

EMANUEL: Yes. So this type of Mpox that we're talking about here is a different type than we saw globally a few years ago. And what's happening is it isn't showing up on the typical diagnostic tests. Plus, this type wasn't known to transmit sexually before, but now it is. All of this is playing out in the eastern part of the DRC. This is a very volatile region right near the border with several other countries. And it's a mining community where this is happening, with lots of transient workers and truck drivers. So cases are being found in sex workers and also a truck driver recently.

KELLY: Gabrielle, go back to something you said a minute ago. You mentioned most cases in other parts of the country are in children. Do we know why that is?

EMANUEL: Yes, yes. So these kids - their exposure typically comes through an infected animal. And they generally don't have the ability to fight off the virus, the ones who end up dying, which is a small percentage. But a lot of that goes back to malnutrition rates, which are very high in this part of the region. And also, they haven't been vaccinated against smallpox. That stopped decades ago when it was eradicated. But smallpox and Mpox are related, and it would have offered some immunity.

KELLY: What's being done to stop the spread?

EMANUEL: Well, Africa CDC says it needs 10 million doses of Mpox vaccines, but the price tag is too high. Jean Kaseya, director general of Africa CDC, says it's about $100 a dose.

JEAN KASEYA: The vaccine is so expensive. There is not so many countries in Africa that can afford the cost of this vaccine.

EMANUEL: There are no doses on the ground yet, and even though the U.S. and others have pledged vaccine donations, a lot more is needed.

KELLY: Gabrielle, with about 30 seconds left, what is the risk here in the United States?

EMANUEL: Well, it has been deemed low at this point, but last week, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention did put out a new alert so that clinicians and travelers are aware of the situation.

KELLY: All right. NPR's Gabrielle Emanuel, thank you.

EMANUEL: Thank you.

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