Africa faces outbreak of cholera, MPox, Marburg, CDC alerts

AFRICA is grappling with increasing public health threats amid overstretched resources and persistent gaps in preparedness, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) has said.

Professor Yap Boum, Incident Manager for Health Emergencies at Africa CDC, gave the alert during the agency’s weekly virtual press briefing.

He gave the alert as the CDC released data showing rising outbreaks of cholera, Mpox and Marburg virus across the continent. Boum noted that the Africa Health Security and Sovereignty Agenda provided a road map to strengthen preparedness, expand local manufacturing and invest in digital and financing systems for long-term resilience.

“Progress requires shared commitment, with Africa leading and partners aligning, to build a more secure and sovereign health future for the continent,” he said.

He said that accelerating local drug production was crucial to reducing dependency and building a resilient health ecosystem.

He also announced that the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) had declared the end of its 16th Ebola outbreak centred in Kasai Province and first reported on September 4.

He said that Africa CDC joined Prime Minister Judith Suminwa Tuluka in marking the milestone, and commended the DRC government, the country’s Ministry of Health and field teams for coordinated response.

Boum said there were 132,442 suspected cases of Mpox and 40,218 confirmed cases resulting in 953 deaths. There were 301,561 suspected cholera cases, 10,057 confirmed cases causing 7,187 deaths, according to him.

“Measles affected 140,217 people, with 11,674 confirmed cases causing 1,243 deaths, while dengue fever recorded 52,155 suspected cases, 6,062 confirmed cases, and 139 deaths. Lassa fever recorded 8,791 suspected cases, 1,023 confirmed cases, and 192 deaths,” he said.

He said that the Ethiopian Ministry of Health and the country’s Public Health Institute confirmed the Marburg virus outbreak in Jinka Town on November 14.

“As of December 3, 13 cases had been confirmed with eight deaths, and 530 samples were tested in week 49 alone. Rapid response teams have been deployed with contact tracing, active case search and surveillance at points of entry ongoing. South Sudan has also activated its Emergency Operations Centre.”