Mpox outbreak in Africa could swell into a pandemic — here's how we stop it

Alarmed by the surge in mpox cases, the Africa Centres for Disease Control has taken the unprecedented step of declaring the outbreak sweeping through African countries a continental public Health emergency. The World Health Organization (WHO) is also meeting to decide whether to trigger its highest global alert level over the epidemic.

These moves come after a virulent strain of the disease spread rapidly to 16 countries and six new countries were affected in 10 days.

There have been 15,132 mpox confirmed cases in Africa since the beginning of 2024. Some of the countries affected are Burundi, Cameroon, Congo, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Africa, Uganda and Kenya.

Virologist Cheryl Walter sets out some of the reasons the mpox outbreaks are so worrying.

Related: WHO may declare new, deadlier mpox outbreak an international emergency

How many strains of mpox are there and which ones should we be worried about?

Mpox is one species of pox virus, such as smallpox and cowpox, characterized by a rash followed by bumps that appear on the skin. With mpox the bumps then fill with liquid and eventually scab over.

As we've come to know through diseases such as COVID-19, viruses change genetically and mutate quite quickly.