Mpox in African countries: Update 1
10 Sep 2024
The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention reports continuing transmission of mpox in Africa. Countries reporting cases in the latest update of 10 September 2024 are:
Burundi: 1 139 cases
Cameroon: 42 cases, including 3 deaths
Central African Republic: 278 cases
Cote d’Ivoire: 181 cases, including 1 death
Democratic Republic of Congo: 25 465 cases, including 635 deaths
Gabon: 15 cases
Guinea: 24 cases
Kenya: 115 cases
Liberia: 93 cases
Nigeria: 916 cases
Uganda: 10 cases
Advice to Travellers
If you are travelling to countries where mpox is present you should:
-
practise careful hand hygiene if you are visiting or caring for ill friends and relatives
- avoid contact with monkeys and rodents (rats, mice and squirrels) and avoid eating undercooked meat from these animals
- wear protective clothing, including gloves, if you are involved in the slaughter or care of animals in these regions
If you are travelling to any destination and will be sexually active during travel (including GBMSM) you should:
- be aware of the risk of mpox
- practise safe sex
- avoid close, including sexual contact, with someone who is unwell and may have mpox.
Seek medical advice during or for 21 days after travelling if you develop symptoms of mpox and have had close contact with someone who may have mpox, or have returned from from a country where mpox is present
- make sure you are checked for malaria if you are returning from a country where mpox is present with a fever or flu-like illness
While a vaccine specifically against mpox is not available, the smallpox vaccine provides some protection.
- for information about the vaccine, see NHS inform (Scotland) and NHS.UK (rest of UK)
For further information on the disease and how you can protect yourself, see the Mpox, Sexual Health Risks and LGBT travellers pages.
Advice to travellers will be updated as appropriate.
*For health professionals: the United Kingdom Health Security Agency (UKHSA) classifies Clade I mpox (Central Africa) as a high consequence infectious disease (HCID). Operational case definitions are published here.