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Nakasongola has carried over 40% of Mpox burden
Kampala, Uganda | FLAVIA NASSAKA – URN | The number of confirmed Mpox cases in Uganda is now 41, doubling from 22 just two weeks ago. The Ministry of Health (MOH) revealed on Wednesday that the majority of these cases have been recorded in the districts of Nakasongola, Kampala, and Wakiso.
According to Atek Kagirita, the Deputy Mpox Incident Commander in the Ministry, a total of ten districts have so far recorded cases of the viral disease but Nakasongola has carried over 40% ofthis burden. While Uganda’s first cases were imported from the neighboring DR Congo into the Kasese district, Kagirita says they are seeing high numbers from the fishing communities and worse they are seeing ladies present with serious genital attacks with many developing big lesions that take a long to clear.
Kagirita was speaking at the first symposium on Mpox hosted in the country which was organized by the Interdisciplinary Consortium for Epidemic Research (ICER) and gathered policymakers and researchers from across Africa.
Speaking to URN on the sidelines of the Conference, Prof Wilber Sabiiti a Professor of Medicine at the University of St. Andrews in the UK said Uganda needs to do more investigations to generate more evidence that explains why they are seeing lesions in the female genitalia.
So far he says they don’t know yet for sure, which clade of the virus causes more severe disease.
On her part, however, Dr. Mary Adetinuke Boyd the CDC Uganda Country Director said while Uganda is seeing an increase in cases, the country’s response is on track as they have increased surveillance to quickly identify and test any cases before they further spread the disease totheir contacts.
She further notes that more than 15 Ministry of Health staff have been trained to enhance capacity for entry and exit screening at multiple border points in various regions and contributed to helping identify the first two cases of Mpox in Uganda at these supported borders points. Additionally, Boyd revealed they are monitoring points of entry for Mpox infections among people traveling within the East African region, as well as among refugees and communities near the border.
While there were concerns raised at the conference regarding the vaccine being administered against Mpox with some researchers pointing out the need to investigate whether the drug works for the specific clades of the virus spreading in DR Congo and the rest of Africa, Boyd said Ugandans should embrace the vaccine as it has already gone through checks at the global level.
However, while all the other East African countries have reported cases of the disease, officialsfrom Tanzania reported at the conference that the country has not yet confirmed any case. DRCongo has the highest number of cases and fatalities followed by Burundi. By Wednesday,Burundi had recorded a total of 854 cases. While 444 have since recovered, 410 are still activewith half of those being in Bujumbura.
Like Uganda, Burundi has not recorded a death due to Mpox yet. More than 15 Ministry of Health staff have been trained to enhance capacity for entry and exit screening at multiple border points in various regions and contributed to helping to identify the first two cases of Mpox in Uganda at these supported border points.
Additionally, CDC implementing partners, Baylor and IDI work in high-risk regions to monitor points of entry for Mpox infections among people traveling within the East African region, as well as among refugees and communities near the border.
