JOHANNESBURG: An outbreak of mpox has killed one person and infected four more in South Africa, the government said on Wednesday, adding it was trying to secure more treatment drugs as a precaution.
The five cases, reported between May 8 and June 7, were the first recorded in the country since 2022, Health Minister Joe Phaahla told reporters.
“One death is too many, especially from a preventable and manageable disease,” Phaahla said, urging those with suspected symptoms to seek medical attention and help trace contacts.
Previously known as monkeypox, mpox is a viral illness transmitted through close contact with infected humans or animals, as well as via materials such as contaminated sheets.
The disease causes painful and scarring lesions, principally to the face, anus and genitals.
Common symptoms include a skin rash, fever, headache, muscle aches and swollen lymph nodes, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Mpox was first discovered in humans in 1970 in the Democratic Republic of Congo, with the spread since then mainly limited to certain West and Central African nations.
But in May 2022, infections surged worldwide, mostly among men who have sex with men, leading the WHO to declare it a global health emergency.
The UN agency ended the alert last year but low-level transmission of mpox continues across the world.
More than 97,000 cases and 186 deaths were reported across 117 countries in the first four months of 2024, according to the WHO.
Phaahla said that all those recently infected in South Africa were men in their 30s.
Their cases were classified as severe. Two remain in hospital, he said.
“Our intention is to obtain a stockpile of Tecovirimat treatment for rapid deployment in case the current situation leads to a wider outbreak,” Phaahla said, referring to an antiviral drug.
One dead as mpox outbreak hits South Africa
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One dead as mpox outbreak hits South Africa
OSCE to probe Georgia over human rights concerns
- OSCE said they were invoking the so-called Moscow mechanism to “establish a fact-finding mission” focusing on Georgia
- The mission will “assess Georgia’s implementation of its OSCE commitments”
VIENNA: The world’s largest regional security organization will probe the human rights situation in Georgia, with members expressing “increasing concern” about democratic backsliding in the Caucasus nation in a statement Thursday.
Authorities in the Black Sea country have in recent years pursued a crackdown on the opposition and have jailed prominent pro-EU figures.
The government has faced accusations of democratic backsliding, drifting toward Russia and derailing Georgia’s bid to join the European Union — allegations it rejects.
In a joint statement seen by AFP, 24 members of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said they were invoking the so-called Moscow mechanism to “establish a fact-finding mission” focusing on Georgia.
The mission will “assess Georgia’s implementation of its OSCE commitments, with a particular focus on developments since spring 2024.”
“We have followed closely and with increasing concern the human rights situation in Georgia,” said the joint statement made by 23 European countries and Canada.
The countries urged Georgia “to cooperate with and facilitate the work of the mission.”
Under the mechanism, experts on a mission have a time frame of several weeks to submit their report.
Most recently, the mechanism has been invoked several times to send experts to Ukraine since Russia’s invasion in 2022, with them finding “clear patterns of international humanitarian law violations.”
Founded in 1975 to ease tensions between the East and the West during the Cold War, the Vienna-based OSCE counts 57 members from Europe, Central Asia and North America, including Russia, Ukraine and the United States.
