By Kemo Cham
Effective Tuesday, 13th August, 2024, Africa is under a state of Public Health Emergency due to the outbreak of the Monkey virus.
The declaration was made by the Africa Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention (Africa CDC).
“Today, I declare, with a heavy heart … a Public Health Emergency of Continental Security,” Dr Jean Kaseya, Director General of the Africa CDC, announced at a special press brief briefing.
He said the decision was needed in response to spiralling cases of Mpox, a zoonotic disease caused by the Monkeypox virus across the continent.
Dr Kaseya called on member states of the African Union and its international partners to collaborate in an effort to eliminate what he described as a threat to global public health.
This is the first time the Africa CDC, the continent’s premier public health agency, is declaring a continental public health emergency after it was given the power in 2023.
Full details later…
