Mpox Outbreak Spreads to Uganda, With WHO on High Alert

Uganda has confirmed two more mpox virus infections, bringing the number of cases in the east African country to four, according to the health ministry.

The two new patients were infected with the clade 1b strain of the virus, and Health Ministry Director General of Health Services Henry Mwebesa told Reuters that the new offshoot is triggering global concern.

Uganda borders Congo, where the current outbreak began in January 2023, since when there have been 27,000 cases and more than 1,100 deaths, mainly among children.

The World Health Organisation recently classified the mpox outbreak in Africa as a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC), after cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo spread to nearby countries. A PHEIC is WHO's highest level of alert.

Health authorities in Uganda first reported an outbreak of the disease in the country on July 24 when lab tests of samples from two patients at a hospital near the border with Democratic Republic of Congo returned positive for mpox virus.

Mpox infections cause flu-like symptoms and lesions

The latest two cases were confirmed this week, health ministry spokesperson Emmanuel Ainebyoona said, adding that one of the patients was a truck driver. He did not give details of the second patient.

Both patients were isolated at a hospital at Entebbe, a town about 50 km south of the capital Kampala.

Mpox is a zoonotic infection that causes flu-like symptoms and pus-filled lesions, and transmit through close physical contact. While usually mild, the disease can be fatal.

In mid-August global health officials confirmed an infection with a new strain of the mpox virus in Sweden and linked it to a growing outbreak in Africa, the first sign of its spread outside the continent a day after the World Health Organisation declared the disease a global public health emergency.

Swedish health officials said at a press conference at the time that the person was infected while in Africa with the clade Ib type of mpox involved in the recent outbreak. The person is receiving treatment.