Kenya has confirmed its second case of Mpox.
The first case in Kenya was reported on July 31, 2024.
The second case involves a truck driver who was identified at the Malaba One Stop Border Post in Busia County.
Health Cabinet Secretary Deborah Barasa announced that the truck driver showed clear symptoms of the disease and had a recent travel history to the outbreak epicenter in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
“The Ministry wishes to inform the public of a second laboratory-confirmed case of the disease in the country; an adult male truck driver who presented to the Port Health screening desk at the Malaba One Stop Border Post, Busia County, with clear symptoms of the disease and a history of travel to the epicenter of the outbreak in DRC,” Barasa said.
To date, 42 samples have been tested for Mpox in Kenya, with 40 returning negative results. More than 400,000 travelers have been screened at various ports of entry across the country.
The first Mpox case in Kenya was detected in Taita Taveta County.
The patient showed symptoms for two weeks before being isolated at Taveta Sub-County Hospital, where clinicians initially suspected either chickenpox or Mpox.
Skin lesion samples tested at the National Public Health Laboratories confirmed Mpox on July 29, 2024.
Contact tracing was immediately conducted, and all contacts were isolated. As of now, no new cases have been reported among those contacts.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the Mpox outbreak in parts of Africa a public health emergency of international concern.
The disease, previously known as monkeypox, has claimed at least 450 lives during its initial outbreak in the DRC. It has since spread to other parts of Central and East Africa, including Burundi, the Central African Republic, Kenya, and Rwanda.
The new variant, known as Clade 1b, has been particularly concerning due to its rapid spread and high fatality rate.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus expressed concern over the potential for further spread within Africa and beyond.
“A coordinated international response is essential to stop this outbreak and save lives,” he said.
Mpox is transmitted through close contact, including sexual contact, skin-to-skin contact, and close proximity such as talking or breathing near an infected person. Symptoms include flu-like signs, skin lesions, and can be fatal, with a mortality rate of four in every 100 cases. The current outbreak is caused by the more lethal Clade 1 variant, which has a much higher fatality rate than the Clade 2 variant that spread globally in 2022.
Experts hope that the declaration of Mpox as a public health emergency will accelerate research, funding, and the implementation of other international public health measures. Dr. Josie Golding from the Wellcome Trust stated that this declaration is a “strong signal” of the seriousness of the outbreak. Emory University’s Dr. Boghuma Titanji added that it “underscores the gravity of the crisis.”
Since the start of the year, over 13,700 cases of Mpox have been reported in the DRC, with at least 450 deaths.
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