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Since 1 January 2022, cases of mpox have been reported to WHO from 17 Member States across the African Region. As of 30 August 2024, a total of 8 109 laboratory confirmed cases, including 57 deaths, have been reported to WHO.

In 2024, as of 1 September 2024, 14 countries have reported 5 732 confirmed cases, including 35 deaths. The three countries with the majority of the cases in 2024 are Democratic Republic of the Congo, (n = 5 147), Burundi, (n = 328), and Central African Republic, (n = 55).

A significant number of suspected cases, that are clinically compatible with mpox are not tested due to limited diagnostic capacity and never get confirmed. Work on integrating these data is only available for a limited number of priority countries for now, and work is ongoing to included more countries in future updates of this report. Not all countries have robust surveillance systems for mpox, so case counts are likely to be underestimates.

An epidemic curve by week of laboratory confirmed cases reported up to 30 August 2024. Note that for the purposes of these epidemic curves, countries with more than one clade present are presented in multiple epidemic curves. The most recent weeks presented in the epidemic curves should be interpreted with caution, as there are delays associated with reporting.

Burundi declared the mpox epidemic driven by clade Ib of the virus on 25 July 2024. The situation escalated rapidly in the following weeks and, as of 1 September 2024, a total of 1 226 suspected and 328 laboratory confirmed cases with no deaths have been reported in 29 out of the 49 districts. Burundi accounts for approximately 5% of cases reported in the African region. Among the confirmed cases, 56% are male, with children under 10 years of age making up 37.5% of the total cases. The most affected age groups are children under 10 years (40.0%). Both suspected and laboratory confirmed cases continue to rise steadily in the country. In the last 7 days, new cases (n=97) increased by 38.6% compared to the previous week (n=70).

Gabon reported its first confirmed case of mpox on 22 August in Libreville. The case involves a 30-year-old male who had recently travelled to Uganda, where he likely contracted the virus. Upon returning to Gabon, he developed symptoms, including fever, fatigue, and a generalized skin rash, and sought medical attention on 21 August. As of 1 September 2024, out of 15 suspected cases identified and tested, two tested positive for Mpox. Contact tracing efforts are ongoing to identify and monitor those who may have been exposed.

The Central African Republic: The most recent outbreak of mpox clade Ia was declared on 18 July 2024, following an alert on 17 July from the Pasteur Institute of Bangui regarding confirmed Mpox cases detected in the Bangui 2 health district. As of epidemiological week 35 (26 August – 1 September 2024), the country has reported 20 new suspected mpox cases and three new confirmed cases in the Mbaïki health district. There have been no new deaths reported this week, with two patients currently hospitalized in Mbaïki. 

Cameroon reported a total of 5 laboratory-confirmed mpox cases and 2 deaths, with a high CFR of 40.0% from January to April 2024. Since the beginning of the mpox outbreak in 2022, Cameroon has reported 50 cases and 5 deaths with a CFR of 10.0%.  No new case has been reported after 14 April 2024.