Ethiopia confirms the country's first monkey pox case

Ethiopian health authorities confirmed the country's first monkey pox or mpox case on Sunday involving a 21-day-old infant and the child's mother in Moyale town near the Kenyan border. Both patients are currently stable and quarantined as officials launch coordinated contact tracing and containment measures, joining 25 other African nations confronting a growing outbreak that has been particularly severe in Sierra Leone.

The Ethiopian Ministry of Health and Public Health Institute said in a joint statement that the infant tested positive for mpox, and subsequent tests confirmed the mother's infection. While neither has suffered serious health complications, they remain under close medical supervision.

"The source of the infection is under investigation, but initial findings suggest cross-border transmission," a joint statement released on Sunday said. "Public health teams have been deployed to trace contacts and prevent further spread, particularly in border areas."

Mpox, a viral infection transmitted through close contact, typically causes flu-like symptoms and pus-filled skin lesions. The virus has spread to multiple countries across Africa since last year, prompting the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or Africa CDC to closely monitor the evolving situation.

Sierra Leone remains the epicenter of the current outbreak, accounting for half of all confirmed cases on the continent, according to Africa CDC. Africa CDC official Ngashi Ngongo, head of the Mpox Incident Management Support Team, stated in an online briefing that Sierra Leone reported 384 cases, representing 50.7 percent of Africa's total confirmed mpox infections.

"The country has seen a 63 percent increase in confirmed cases in just one week," Ngongo said.

"They have a bed capacity in mpox treatment centers of only 60 beds, but we are talking about over 800 active cases," Ngongo said, adding that most infected people had to stay at home.

Since declaring mpox a public health emergency in January, Sierra Leone has recorded over 1,000 confirmed cases and 14 deaths. Official data from the National Public Health Agency of Sierra Leone on Thursday shows a total of 1,904 active Mpox cases, 14 deaths or fatalities, and 893 recoveries.

He said Sierra Leone, with a population of 8 million people, has received just over 61,000 doses of the Mpox vaccine, and those at highest risk will be prioritized.

"Most infected people are forced to stay at home, which complicates isolation efforts," he said.

Additionally, Liberia's Ministry of Health and the National Public Health Institute have expressed concern over a rapid increase in mpox cases in neighboring Sierra Leone.

Cross-border transmission remains a significant concern. Dougbeh Nyan, director general of Liberia's Public Health Institute, stressed the importance of regional collaboration in response to rising cases.

"We have been communicating with the National Public Health Agency of Sierra Leone, because of cross border transmission," Nyan said. "We know what happened in our region during Ebola and we are having very serious collaborations among ourselves."

Africa CDC has warned that insufficient funding, laboratory capacity, and contact tracing capabilities continue to hinder effective outbreak response. Proposed cuts to US global health funding earlier this year have raised concerns about sustaining containment efforts across the continent.