The World Health Organisation (WHO) says Africa is facing an increased risk of disease outbreaks caused by zoonotic pathogens such as the monkeypox virus.
There has been a 63 percent spike in the number of zoonotic outbreaks in the region in the last decade compared to the previous one, according to an analysis by WHO.
Zoonotic disease refers to any group of diseases that can be transmitted to humans by nonhuman vertebrate animals, like mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish.
During a media briefing on Thursday, the regional director for Africa, Matshidiso Moeti, said, “More than 75 percent of emerging infectious diseases are caused by pathogens shared with wild or domestic animals. They account for a substantial burden of disease, resulting in about a billion sick people and millions of deaths globally every year.”
The analysis revealed that since 2001, 1,843 documented public health events were recorded in Africa, 30 percent of them were zoonotic outbreaks, as animal-to-human diseases are known.
Although the numbers have grown over the past two decades, there was a meaningful spike in 2019 and 2022, with zoonotic pathogens accounting for half of public health events.
Furthermore, Ebola and similar fevers triggering blood loss due to damaged vessels account for nearly 70 percent of these outbreaks, including monkeypox, anthrax, plague, and dengue fever.
While there has been an increase in monkeypox cases since April this year compared to last year’s, the numbers remain lower than the 2020 peak, when Africa witnessed its highest-ever monthly cases.
So far, 203 confirmed monkeypox cases have been recorded in Africa since the start of the year, as the zoonotic disease spreads worldwide into countries where it has not been endemic.
“Available data for 175 of the cases this year in Africa indicate that just over half the patients when averaged out, were 17-year-old men,” Ms. Moeti said. “Africa cannot be allowed to become a hotspot for emerging infectious diseases,” she added.
