Mpox has killed 1,100 people in Africa so far this year as a lack of vaccines, congested refugee camps and prisons fuel the spread of a disease that can also result in blindness and disfigurement.“We are not making huge progress,

Over the past week, Africa’s surge of new mpox cases continued, and the region passed a grim marker, with fatal cases passing 1,000 for the year amid several worrying developments, including spread to new countries and in crowded settings that include prisons and refugee camps.

Addressing a press briefing, the director general of Africa CDC, Jean Kaseya, said this year 42,438 mpox cases have been recorded in 18 African countries. Some 3051 new cases were recorded in the past week, with new outbreaks reported in Zimbabwe and Zambia.

Africa's top public health agency says the number of mpox-related deaths in the continent has surpassed 1,000 and warned of the continuing threat of cross-border contamination and a lack of rapid test

Rwanda's outbreak of the deadly Marburg virus is easing after vaccinations of the most vulnerable people including healthcare workers, but mpox cases are still spreading to new African countries, Rwanda's health minister and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention's head said on Thursday.