VOA健康报道2024--African Health Officials Warn of Mpox Spread

African health officials say mpox infections on the continent have risen by 160 percent in 2024. They expect the spread to continue, they say, as Africa lacks effective treatments or vaccines² for the viral disease.

The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that mpox, also known as monkeypox, has been identified in 10 African countries this year.

Burundi and Rwanda both reported the virus for the first time recently.

New outbreaks were also declared this week in Kenya and Central African Republic.

On Wednesday, Kenya's Health Ministry³ said it found mpox in a passenger traveling from Uganda to Rwanda at a border crossing in southern Kenya. In a statement, the ministry said that a single mpox case was enough to require an outbreak declaration.

The Africa CDC has reported more than 14,000 cases of the disease. More than 96 percent of cases and deaths are in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Earlier this year, scientists reported the appearance of a new form of mpox in a Congolese mining town. They fear it might spread more easily among people. Mpox spreads through close contact with infected people, including sex.

The Africa CDC said the mpox death rate is three percent. It said the rate "has been much higher on the African continent compared to the rest of the world." During the global mpox emergency in 2022, less than one percent of people infected with the virus died.

The version of mpox in the Democratic Republic of the Congo could kill up to 10 percent of people infected, experts reported. The center noted⁴ that both of the mpox cases in Rwanda had been in Congo before testing positive.

A study of patients hospitalized from October to January in eastern Congo suggested that recent genetic⁵ changes in the virus were the result of ongoing⁶ spread in people.

In earlier mpox outbreaks, patients suffered lesions mainly on the chest, hands and feet. The new form of mpox causes less severe symptoms and lesions mainly appear on the genitals.

The Africa CDC said nearly 70 percent of cases in Congo are in children younger than 15. That group also represents 85 percent of deaths from the disease. The agency said the number of deaths across the continent has jumped by 19 percent since last year.

The medical aid group Doctors Without Borders called the expanding mpox outbreak "worrying." It also said the disease has been found in camps for displaced people in Congo's North Kivu area, which shares a border with Rwanda.

Dr. Louis Massing is medical director for Congo at Doctors Without Borders. Massing said, "There is a real risk of explosion, given the huge population movements in and out."

Mpox outbreaks in the West have been uncommon⁷ because of vaccines and treatments. But few treatments have been available in African countries including the Congo.

In May, the WHO said no donors⁸ had provided money to fight the spread of mpox.

The Coalition⁹ for Epidemic¹⁰ Preparedness Innovations is an aid organization based in Norway. It recently announced the start of an mpox vaccine¹ study in Congo and other African countries. It aims to learn if vaccine treatment given just after infection could prevent severity of the disease.

Words in This Story

ravaging¹¹ -adj. damaging or harming badly

lesions -n. (medical) an area of infected skin that is usually swollen¹², red, bleeding or releasing fluid

symptoms -n. signs that an infection is present

1 vaccine   

n.牛痘苗，疫苗；adj.牛痘的，疫苗的

参考例句：

• The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives.脊髓灰质炎疫苗挽救了数以百万计的生命。
• She takes a vaccine against influenza every fall.她每年秋季接种流感疫苗。

2 vaccines   

疫苗，痘苗( vaccine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His team are at the forefront of scientific research into vaccines. 他的小组处于疫苗科研的最前沿。
• The vaccines were kept cool in refrigerators. 疫苗放在冰箱中冷藏。

3 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

4 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

5 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。

6 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

7 uncommon   

adj.罕见的，非凡的，不平常的

参考例句：

• Such attitudes were not at all uncommon thirty years ago.这些看法在30年前很常见。
• Phil has uncommon intelligence.菲尔智力超群。

8 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

10 epidemic   

n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的

参考例句：

• That kind of epidemic disease has long been stamped out.那种传染病早已绝迹。
• The authorities tried to localise the epidemic.当局试图把流行病限制在局部范围。

11 ravaging   

毁坏( ravage的现在分词 )； 蹂躏； 劫掠； 抢劫

参考例句：

• It is believed that in fatigue there is a repeated process of ravaging the material. 据认为，在疲劳中，有一个使材料毁坏的重复过程。
• I was able to capture the lion that was ravaging through town. 我能逮住正在城里肆虐的那头狮子。

12 swollen   

adj.肿大的，水涨的；v.使变大，肿胀

参考例句：

• Her legs had got swollen from standing up all day.因为整天站着，她的双腿已经肿了。
• A mosquito had bitten her and her arm had swollen up.蚊子叮了她，她的手臂肿起来了。