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Sierra Leone is going through a rise in recorded mpox infections, with 177 new circumstances reported in current days, a well being ministry official informed AFP.
The West African nation, which in January declared a public well being emergency to fight mpox, has despatched well being groups to hold out screening operations in households of individuals suspected to be contaminated with the virus.
Amanda Clemens, social mobilization coordinator for the well being ministry, stated Saturday that well being staff had recorded a complete of 177 circumstances over the Friday-Saturday interval.
Sierra Leone has recorded 763 circumstances of mpox since January with six deaths and 282 recoveries, in accordance with knowledge from the Nationwide Public Well being Company printed Saturday.
Freetown, the capital, has the best variety of detected mpox circumstances for the reason that well being emergency was declared. Because of this, the federal government has opened 4 remedy facilities within the capital since February.
“Misinformation and fear surrounding mpox continue to prevent some people from seeking medical assistance and some individuals were not tested early enough and may have unknowingly spread the disease before their diagnosis,” stated Sallu Lansana, a part of the well being ministry’s vaccination group.
The nation began vaccinating frontline well being care staff and high-risk people and kids from age 12 in early April, after securing 61,300 doses from the World Well being Group (WHO) and improvement companions.
“Over 1,000 people have been vaccinated with the majority being health workers and many of whom are women,” stated Desmond Maada Kangbai, who leads the well being ministry’s vaccination program.
Mpox is attributable to a virus from the identical household as smallpox, manifesting in a excessive fever and pores and skin lesions, referred to as vesicles.
First recognized within the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1970, the illness had usually been confined to a dozen African nations.
The WHO declared its highest degree of alert in 2024.
A decade in the past, Sierra Leone was one of many nations worst affected by an Ebola epidemic which between 2014 and 2016 killed about 4,000 individuals, together with practically 7% of well being staff.
© 2025 AFP
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Well being staff in Sierra Leone see surge in mpox circumstances (2025, April 27)
retrieved 27 April 2025
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