Cape Town, South Africa — South African health authorities say two people died this week after mpox hiringand it appears that there is local transmission of the disease.
The health ministry said on Thursday that a 38-year-old man died in the eastern province of KwaZulu-Natal on Wednesday, the same day a laboratory test confirmed he had contracted the virus. Another man died Monday in a hospital near Johannesburg, the ministry said.
Health Minister Joe Phaahla said the two deaths were among six recent confirmed cases of mpox in South Africa, all of them men in their 30s. Some had multiple sexual partners, including men and women. Genetic testing for the first three cases showed that the men had the less severe version of mpox, which spread globally in an outbreak that began in 2022.
In all cases, the men had no travel history to countries currently experiencing an outbreak, “which suggests there is local transmission of this infectious disease,” Phaahla said.
He said all six men had underlying conditions. The last man to die had HIV. Smallpox is known to be more deadly in people with other health problems, especially those who have weakened immune systems.
MPox, too known as monkeypox, is a rare disease caused by infection with a virus from the same family as the one that causes smallpox. It is common in other parts of Africa, where people are often infected through bites from rodents or other small animals.
Smallpox was not known to spread easily between people until 2022, when authorities detected epidemics in Europe, North America and elsewhere and the World Health Organization declared it a global emergency. This epidemic also marked the first time that mpox was spread through sex; most of those affected were gay or bisexual men. The UN health agency said last year that mpox was It is no longer an international crisis.
The WHO reported last month that there have been 186 deaths from mpox worldwide since 2022, with a mortality rate of less than 1%.
South Africa last recorded a case of mpox in 2022, Phaahla said. He said South Africa does not have vaccines, but is considering obtaining doses and launching an immunization campaign.
Phaahla said the outbreak in South Africa is distinct from the ongoing epidemic in Congowhere a more lethal form of the disease may be fueling the largest outbreak ever in the country.
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