Over 26,000 Mpox Cases Reported Across Africa in 2025, DRC Most Affected
As of July, a total of 26,734 mpox cases and 115 deaths have been reported across 21 African countries. The DRC alone accounts for 13,545 cases and 38 fatalities, followed by Uganda (6,051 cases) and Sierra Leone (4,610 cases).
While WHO data indicates a recent decline in new infections—particularly in DRC and Sierra Leone—health authorities caution that the trend may be misleading due to testing delays, inconsistent surveillance, and waning response resources in many affected areas.
Resurgence and global alert status
The mpox virus, formerly known as monkeypox, is endemic to Central and West Africa, but drew global attention after international outbreaks in 2022–2023. Though the WHO lifted its global health emergency designation in May 2023, the status was reinstated in August 2024 amid a fresh resurgence.
The current outbreak has raised concerns about health system fatigue and resource constraints, particularly in conflict-affected countries like the DRC where routine disease surveillance remains fragile.
Public health priorities
Health officials are calling for sustained international support, improved access to testing and vaccines, and cross-border coordination to contain the spread of mpox across the continent. The WHO continues to monitor the outbreak and is expected to issue updated technical guidance for national health ministries this month.
The mpox virus is primarily spread through close physical contact, including skin-to-skin contact with infected individuals, contaminated objects, or bodily fluids. It causes fever, rash, and swollen lymph nodes, and can be fatal in vulnerable populations if not treated promptly.
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Al-Ahram Weekly
4 hours ago
- Al-Ahram Weekly
Bullets instead of aid in Gaza - World - Al-Ahram Weekly
As Israel continues its siege of the Gaza Strip, Palestinian residents are being shot by Israeli Occupation Forces as they queue for food Starving Palestinians in Gaza are now experiencing severe malnutrition and are sharing advice on how to battle the effects of prolonged hunger as the Strip runs out of food. 'To avoid the widespread dizziness and headaches that everyone is suffering from, take some salt to compensate for sodium deficiency,' Fathi Sabbah, a Palestinian from Gaza, wrote on his Facebook page this week. Without food, people are experiencing faintness, severe fatigue, and muscle spasms, he explained. After imposing a blanket ban on the entry of food, water, medicine, and fuel into Gaza since 2 March, the Israeli government is now openly starving the enclave's population of two million people. Reports of mass fainting in the streets as famine sets in have signaled the beginning of a new stage in Israel's genocide in Gaza, where intentional famine is being documented and livestreamed for the world to see. According to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), co-sponsored by the World Health Organisation (WHO), the World Food Programme (WFP), the UN children's agency UNICEF, and other agencies, 470,000 people in Gaza are now in IPC Phase 5 (catastrophic hunger), the worst category. The entire population is enduring acute food insecurity across Gaza, with nearly one in every three people going without food for days at a time, according to the WFP. 'People are already starving, sick, and dying, while food and medicines are minutes away across the border,' said WHO Director‑General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. The situation, he added, is 'one of the world's worst hunger crises' unfolding in real time. Israel's blockade has triggered a collapse of food production and distribution and health services. Flour mills and bakeries have been heavily damaged or destroyed by the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF), Gaza's largest wheat mill was bombed earlier in the war, and many bakeries cannot produce bread from whatever scarce flour reaches Gaza. Water access has plummeted, with survivors reporting receiving as little as two to five litres per person per day, only a fraction of the UN's minimum standards. Over 80 per cent of households lack safe water, and sanitation systems are almost non‑existent, with one toilet for every 2,200 people in some shelters, making disease outbreaks inevitable. Cases of respiratory infections, skin diseases, suspected meningitis, scabies, and hepatitis have all surged, amplified by malnutrition and overcrowding. Palestinian survivors paint a picture of daily torment. Videos, photographs, and testimonies of starving people have all flooded social media for months, with live updates of Israeli's apocalyptic actions against the besieged population. One mother speaking to Refugees International, a NGO, recounted feeding her children 'mouldy bread,' while others say they queue for hours only to leave empty‑handed, with nothing but water and tears. 'I don't know how our dreams changed and ended up as just a loaf of bread,' Omar Hamad, a pharmacist from Gaza, wrote on X earlier this week. In response to international pressure, the US State Department launched the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) in February, aiming to deliver food via a privately run joint Israeli operation starting on 26 May and bypassing UN-led systems. Its funding is approximately $140 million per month, and it claims to have delivered 75 million meals. But GHF has become one of the most controversial ingredients in Israel's Gaza starvation crisis. During its brief operations, over 615 deaths were recorded by the UN Office for (OHCHR) at or near GHF distribution sites, primarily in Israeli-designated military zones in southern Gaza, as of early July. At least 70 per cent of aid-related fatalities have been traced to GHF sites, which survivors describe as 'death traps' for aid seekers. These include deaths in stampedes and shootings. On 16 July, 20 Palestinians died by crushing or stabbing at a GHF site in Khan Yunis, with earlier incidents seeing over 400 people killed during chaotic aid distributions. The daily shooting of aid seekers by mercenaries and the IOF were cited by witnesses. Ahmed Abu Sido, a Palestinian in Gaza, described his near-death experience while attempting to procure food in the Zikim Crossing distribution point in the south of the Strip. 'Hunger was the only reason that compelled me and my siblings to go there. We were unable to stand on our own two feet,' he wrote on his Facebook page on Sunday. Abu Sido said that '99 per cent' of the crowds that went to Zikim were 'dizzy' owing to the lack of food but had had to walk a total of ten km to the aid centre and back in the scorching heat. The moment word spread that the aid trucks had arrived, the shooting began. 'Everyone ducked down, and I heard the whistle of bullets flying next to my head. A 20-year-old barefoot girl next to me broke down in tears and started screaming, 'I don't want to die, take me home!'' Later, he saw an aid truck that typically delivers flour carrying a Palestinian man who had been killed. Both his hands and feet were tied. 'He was headless,' Abu Sido wrote. Abu Sido saw the body of a 12-year-old boy lying on a carriage pulled by a donkey. His mother and sisters were crying as they hugged the lifeless body. 'He told them to wait while he went to get some flour because it was too dangerous. He was starving when he was martyred and never even got the flour,' Abu Sido said. 'I decided to return home after choosing my life over a bag of flour,' he wrote. 'I cursed the centre and humanity, and I said to myself that my life is more precious.' In what has been described as Gaza's deadliest aid‑seeking incident, IOF troops opened fire on crowds queuing near the Zikim Crossing on 20 July, killing between 67 and 93 Palestinians waiting for UN aid trucks. Among the dead were dozens of children. Some reports say 71 children have already perished due to hunger and a lack of medical care. The WFP condemned the violence, saying its convoy was targeted. Health officials say hundreds more were wounded, and the death toll from aid‑related casualties in recent months is now believed to exceed 875 people. The scenes underscore growing desperation: massive crowds, collapsing order, and lethal force met without safe humanitarian structures. Reports from eyewitnesses and humanitarian agencies recount heaps of injured people and survivors, saying that the aid distributions resembled military operations more than relief. The sites are fenced and guarded by private security and Israeli troops. Palestinians must pass through screenings and identity checks in scenes likened to checkpoints, fueling desperation and fear. GHF relies on private security contractors, often US-based firms, to manage logistics and crowd control, raising serious concern over the safety of aid seekers. The UN, Doctors Without Borders, Amnesty International, Oxfam, and over 170 other NGOs have condemned the GHF, citing violations of neutrality, impartiality, and safety. Doctors Without Borders described GHF distributions as 'slaughter masquerading as aid.' Investigations by the UK channel Sky News found that many distributions were announced less than 30 minutes in advance, often via last-minute Facebook posts. Locations were inaccurate or in combat zones and supplies frequently ran out within nine minutes of opening, it said. Some distribution centres are 10 to 20 km away from major population centres, forcing refugees to walk through militarised zones to reach them. Only the strongest make it. UN aid coordinators have refused to work with the GHF, accusing Israel of using the organisation to politicise humanitarian assistance and sideline established UN‑led systems. Israel has banned main UN humanitarian agencies like the UN Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA that have been supplying Gaza with essential aid for decades from operating in the Strip. 'There is no case since World War II of starvation that has been so minutely designed and controlled,' UK famine expert Alex de Waal said. This is entirely man-made starvation, he told the Qatari news channel Aljazeera, 'and every stage has been predicted, and action could have been taken by Israel and the international community to prevent what is happening. Those steps haven't been taken.' Groups including Swiss NGO TRIAL International warn that the GHF leadership may be criminally liable for aiding war crimes or crimes against humanity, especially if sites were used to force population displacement southward. Human rights attorneys highlight the pattern of luring starving civilians into zones where they become targets under the guise of aid. UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini called GHF operations 'an abomination' and a 'death trap costing more lives than it saves.' International humanitarian agencies have repeatedly called for Israel to open all border crossings and allow UN-led agencies to deliver aid based on need, not political alignment, and to declare a ceasefire to enable safe distribution and further the prevent collapse of Gaza's basic services. They have also called for suspending GHF operations pending independent investigation to ensure adherence to humanitarian principles. UN experts have been raising the alarm over the spread of famine in Gaza since July last year. 'With the death of the first child from malnutrition… it becomes irrefutable that famine has taken hold,' the experts said in a statement a year ago following the death of two children from hunger and malnutrition in June 2024. 'We declare that Israel's intentional and targeted starvation campaign… has resulted in famine across all of Gaza.' * A version of this article appears in print in the 24 July, 2025 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly Follow us on: Facebook Instagram Whatsapp Short link:
Al-Ahram Weekly
18 hours ago
- Al-Ahram Weekly
WHO sounds alarm on risk of chikungunya epidemic - Health - Life & Style
The World Health Organization warned on Tuesday a major chikungunya virus epidemic risks sweeping around the globe, calling for urgent action to prevent it. Related Dengue and chikungunya may soon become endemic in Europe The WHO said it was picking up exactly the same early warning signs as in a major outbreak two decades ago and wanted to prevent a repeat. Chikungunya is a mosquito-borne viral disease that causes fever and severe joint pain, which is often debilitating. In some cases it can be deadly. "Chikungunya is not a disease that is widely known, but it has been detected and transmitted in 119 countries globally, putting 5.6 billion people at risk," said the WHO's Diana Rojas Alvarez. She recalled how from 2004 to 2005, a major chikungunya epidemic swept across the Indian Ocean, hitting small island territories before spreading globally and affecting almost half a million people. "Today, WHO is seeing the same pattern emerge: since the beginning of 2025, Reunion, Mayotte and Mauritius have all reported major chikungunya outbreaks. One-third of the population of Reunion is estimated to have been infected already," she told a press briefing in Geneva. 'Raising the alarm' The symptoms of chikungunya are similar to those of dengue fever and Zika virus disease, making it difficult to diagnose, according to the WHO. Rojas Alvarez said that like 20 years ago, the virus was now spreading to other places in the region, such as Madagascar, Somalia and Kenya. "Epidemic transmission is also occurring in south Asia," she added. In Europe, imported cases have also been reported, linked with the outbreak in the Indian Ocean islands. Local transmission has been reported in France, and suspected cases detected in Italy. "Because these patterns of transmission were seen in the outbreak from 2004 onwards, WHO is calling for urgent action to prevent history from repeating itself," said Rojas Alvarez. She noted that the case fatality rate was less than one percent, "but when you start counting millions of cases, that one percent can be thousands" of deaths. "We are raising the alarm early so countries can prepare early, detect and strengthen all the capacities to avoid going through very large outbreaks." Tiger mosquitos Rojas Alvarez explained that in regions where populations have little or no immunity, the virus can quickly cause significant epidemics, affecting up to three-quarters of the population. Chikungunya virus is transmitted to humans by the bites of infected female mosquitoes, most commonly Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquitoes. The latter, which is known as the tiger mosquito, is venturing farther north as the world warms because of human-driven climate change. They bite primarily during daylight hours, with peak activity often in the early morning and late afternoon. The WHO urged people to protect themselves through measures like using mosquito repellent and not leaving water to stagnate in containers such as buckets, where mosquitoes can breed. Follow us on: Facebook Instagram Whatsapp Short link:
Al-Ahram Weekly
a day ago
- Al-Ahram Weekly
WHO unveils Cairo-based regional coalition for mental health - Health - Life & Style
The World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean joined mental health partners and stakeholders on 17 July in Cairo to launch the Regional Coalition for Mental Health Promotion and Substance Use Prevention. According to a press release by the WHO office in Cairo, the coalition, the first of its kind in the region, will serve as a collaborative platform to align strategies, amplify impact, and integrate mental health and substance use efforts into broader public health agendas. The aim is to transition from stigma to empowerment, from punishment to prevention, and from fragmented efforts to coordinated action. Mental health and substance use disorders remain significant health challenges across the region. An estimated one in six people in the Eastern Mediterranean lives with a mental health condition, while 6.7 percent of adults face substance use issues — above the global average. Treatment gaps remain high, with some countries reporting up to 90 percent of people in need not receiving care, mainly due to stigma and limited access. 'No single sector or agency can tackle this alone,' said WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean Dr Hanan Balkhy. 'Today's launch marks a decisive shift from institutional neglect to community-based care, and from policy made for people to policy shaped with people,' she expressed. The coalition will prioritize the leadership and inclusion of people with lived experience in all areas — from prevention and rehabilitation to policy reform and advocacy. It will support the implementation of the Regional Action Plan for Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergencies (2024–2030) and the Regional Flagship Initiative on substance use, both endorsed by WHO member states in 2024. Currently comprising more than 50 organizations and experts, the coalition is hosted on an interactive platform in collaboration with the Global Mental Health Action Network and led by United for Global Mental Health. The WHO and its partners will co-develop a comprehensive work plan to support mental health and substance use prevention efforts, including service delivery, stigma reduction, capacity building, and integration into primary care and emergency response systems. Follow us on: Facebook Instagram Whatsapp Short link:
