Join on WhatsApp
Join on Telegram
Rabat – Sierra Leone has plunged into a state of emergency after confirming its second case of mpox within four days, health officials said.
Health Minister Austin Demby made the urgent announcement in Freetown, the nation’s capital, stating: “The confirmation of two mpox cases has triggered swift action under the Public Health Act. On behalf of the government of Sierra Leone, I am declaring a public health emergency.”
According to the health ministry, neither patient had any recent contact with infected animals or individuals. Only the first case involved recent travel, limited to the airport town of Lungi in the northern Port Loko District between December 26 and January 6. Both patients are currently receiving care in a Freetown hospital.
The second case, involving a 21-year-old man who showed symptoms on January 6, has heightened concerns.
The public health emergency “allows us to act immediately to mobilise the resources needed to contain the disease, prevent further spread and provide care to those affected,” the minister said.
Mpox, also known as monkeypox, first caught scientists’ attention in 1958 during outbreaks of a pox-like illness in monkeys. Historically, human cases were primarily reported in central and West Africa, typically linked to contact with infected animals.
The World Health Organization (WHO) declared monkeypox a global health emergency in August 2024 because of the rapid spread of the new strain of the virus.
The virus causes fevers, headaches and painful boils on the skin. It can spread from person to person through close physical contact, including sexual intercourse.
In 2022, the virus was confirmed to spread via sex for the first time and triggered outbreaks in more than 70 countries across the world that had not previously reported mpox. The Congo has borne the brunt of the epidemic, with a vast majority of the roughly 43,000 suspected cases and 1,000 deaths in Africa this year.
Sierra Leone was previously the epicenter of the 2014 Ebola outbreak, the deadliest in history. The outbreak, primarily concentrated in West Africa, affected Sierra Leone the most. The country was home to nearly 4,000 Ebola-related deaths out of the more than 11,000 recorded globally. It also lost 7 percent of its healthcare workforce to the outbreak.
