Latest news with #NgashiNgongo
Hans India
09-08-2025
- Health
- Hans India
Mpox deaths surpass 1,900 in Africa since 2024: Africa CDC
Addis Ababa: The death toll from Africa's ongoing mpox outbreak has surpassed 1,900 since the start of 2024, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said. During an online media briefing, Ngashi Ngongo, chief of staff and head of the Africa CDC's Executive Office, said that 27 mpox-affected African countries have reported 174,597 cases and 1,922 related deaths since the start of last year. "When we compare the data of last year and this year, we see that in 2025, we have already reported 94,300 cases that represent 117 per cent of the cases reported last year. On the confirmed cases, we have 29,084 (this year) compared to 19,713 (last year)," Ngongo said. He noted, however, that the continent has seen a steady decline in both confirmed and suspected cases in recent weeks, especially compared to the peak in May. Increased testing coverage was also highlighted as a positive sign in the fight against the disease, Xinhua news agency reported. Mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, was first detected in laboratory monkeys in 1958. It is a rare viral disease typically transmitted through body fluids, respiratory droplets, and contaminated materials. The infection often causes fever, rash, and swollen lymph nodes. The Africa CDC declared the outbreak a public health emergency of continental security in August 2024. The World Health Organization later designated it a public health emergency of international concern. Mpox spreads from person to person mainly through close contact with someone who has mpox, including members of a household. Close contact includes skin-to-skin and mouth-to-mouth or mouth-to-skin contact, and it can also include being face-to-face with someone who has mpox (such as talking or breathing close to one another, which can generate infectious respiratory particles). Mpox causes signs and symptoms which usually begin within a week but can start 1–21 days after exposure. Symptoms typically last 2–4 weeks but may last longer in someone with a weakened immune system. Mpox causes signs and symptoms which usually begin within a week but can start 1–21 days after exposure. Symptoms typically last 2–4 weeks but may last longer in someone with a weakened immune system.
The Star
08-08-2025
- Health
- The Star
Mpox deaths surpass 1,900 in Africa since 2024: Africa CDC
ADDIS ABABA, Aug. 8 (Xinhua) -- The death toll from Africa's ongoing mpox outbreak has surpassed 1,900 since the start of 2024, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said Thursday. During an online media briefing, Ngashi Ngongo, chief of staff and head of the Africa CDC's Executive Office, said that 27 mpox-affected African countries have reported 174,597 cases and 1,922 related deaths since the start of last year. "When we compare the data of last year and this year, we see that in 2025, we have already reported 94,300 cases that represent 117 percent of the cases reported last year. On the confirmed cases, we have 29,084 (this year) compared to 19,713 (last year)," Ngongo said. He noted, however, that the continent has seen a steady decline in both confirmed and suspected cases in recent weeks, especially compared to the peak in May. Increased testing coverage was also highlighted as a positive sign in the fight against the disease. Mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, was first detected in laboratory monkeys in 1958. It is a rare viral disease typically transmitted through body fluids, respiratory droplets, and contaminated materials. The infection often causes fever, rash, and swollen lymph nodes. The Africa CDC declared the outbreak a public health emergency of continental security in August 2024. The World Health Organization later designated it a public health emergency of international concern.
Bloomberg
19-06-2025
- Health
- Bloomberg
Africa Battles to Halt Cholera Cases as Funding Cuts Hurt
Health-funding cuts are wreaking havoc on many African countries' ability to gain control diseases such as cholera, according to the continent's main health-advisory body. Financial aid provided by governments of wealthier countries to developing nations to improve health outcomes had already dropped by about 70% between 2021 and 2025, Ngashi Ngongo, a principal adviser at Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, said in a briefing Thursday.
Bloomberg
05-06-2025
- Health
- Bloomberg
Mpox in Africa Near 2024 Total as Sierra Leone Cases Surge
Africa is set to record more mpox cases this year than it did in 2024, when an explosion of the virus prompted the declaration of an international health emergency. More than 64,000 cases have been reported in the five months through May, nearing the 77,000 registered all of last year, Ngashi Ngongo, a principal adviser at Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, said in a briefing Thursday.
The Star
30-05-2025
- Health
- The Star
Africa CDC urges aggressive action to curb mpox outbreak in southern Ethiopia
ADDIS ABABA, May 30 (Xinhua) -- The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) has called for aggressive efforts to control mpox in southern Ethiopia to avert possible cross-border spread. The East African country reported its first mpox case on May 25 when a 21-day-old infant tested positive in Moyale near the Kenyan border. On Friday, the Ethiopian Ministry of Health announced that the number of cases has now reached six as three new cases were confirmed. During an online media briefing on Thursday evening, Ngashi Ngongo, chief of staff and head of the Executive Office at Africa CDC, expressed concern due to Moyale town's close proximity to neighboring Somalia. "The proximity to Somalia, and knowing all the challenges in Somalia, makes it that we really need to be very bold and aggressive to control this outbreak from the source so that it does not expand from the region," he said. Meanwhile, Ngongo said that the African continent has reported 139,233 mpox cases since the start of last year. Of these, 34,824 were confirmed and about 1,788 related deaths were recorded. Mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, was first detected in laboratory monkeys in 1958. It is a rare viral disease transmitted through body fluids, respiratory droplets and contaminated materials. The infection often causes fever, rash and swollen lymph nodes.
