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
https://arab.news/52kuj
One dead as mpox outbreak hits South Africa
US immigration agent fatally shoots woman in Minneapolis, mayor disputes government claim of self-defense
- A visibly angry mayor said federal immigration agents were responsible for sowing chaos in the city
MINNEAPOLIS: A US immigration agent shot and killed a 37-year-old woman in her car in Minneapolis on Wednesday amid an immigration enforcement surge, according to local and federal officials, the latest violent incident during President Donald Trump’s nationwide crackdown on migrants.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey adamantly rejected the Trump administration’s claim that the agent fired in self-defense, saying he has seen video of the shooting that directly contradicts what he called the government’s “garbage narrative.”
“They’re already trying to spin this as an action of self-defense,” he said at a press conference. “Having seen the video myself, I want to tell everybody directly — that is bullshit.”
A visibly angry Frey said federal immigration agents were responsible for sowing chaos in the city, telling ICE: “Get the f*** out of Minneapolis.” But he also urged residents to remain calm.
The shooting drew protesters into the streets near the scene, some of whom were met by heavily armed federal agents wearing gas masks who fired chemical irritants at the demonstrators.
Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security said in a post on X that the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer began firing after a “violent rioter” attempted to run over ICE officers.
“The alleged perpetrator was hit and is deceased,” she wrote. “The ICE officers who were hurt are expected to make full recoveries.”
Frey said the woman did not appear to be trying to ram anyone in the video he had reviewed. The city police chief, Brian O’Hara, told reporters that the preliminary investigation indicated the woman’s vehicle was blocking traffic when a federal officer approached on foot.
“The vehicle began to drive off,” he said. “At least two shots were fired. The vehicle then crashed on the side of the roadway.”
Trump, a Republican, has deployed federal immigration agents to Democratic-led cities across the US through his first year in office in a crackdown against illegal immigration, leading to backlash from some residents.
The administration planned to send approximately 2,000 agents to Minneapolis, according to news reports, following allegations of wide-scale welfare fraud involving Somali immigrants, whom Trump has called “garbage.”
The identity of the shot woman was not publicly disclosed. US Senator Tina Smith, a Minnesota Democrat, said on X that she was a US citizen. The police chief said the woman, who was married, was not a target of immigration operations.
WITNESSES DESCRIBE SHOOTING
A dark-colored SUV with a bullet hole through its windshield and blood splattered across the headrest was seen rammed into a pole on the snowy street where the shooting took place.
Venus de Mars, a 65-year-old Minneapolis resident who lives near the site of the shooting, described seeing paramedics perform CPR on a woman collapsed next to a snowbank near the crashed car. Shortly after, they loaded her into an ambulance that drove away without its sirens on.
“There’s been lots of ICE activity but nothing like this,” de Mars said. “I’m so angry. I’m so angry, and I feel helpless.”
The deployment of agents to Minneapolis follows Trump’s recent attacks on Democratic Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and the state’s large population of Somali Americans and Somali immigrants over allegations of fraud dating back to 2020 by some nonprofit groups that administer childcare and other social services programs.
At least 56 people have pleaded guilty since federal prosecutors started to bring charges in 2022 under Trump’s Democratic predecessor, Joe Biden. Walz, the Democratic vice presidential nominee in 2024, announced this week he would not seek a third term as governor, saying he did not have time both to address the fraud scandal and to campaign.
Immigration agents have been involved in other similar shootings during the Trump administration’s crackdown.
During “Operation Midway Blitz,” Trump’s immigration enforcement surge in Chicago last fall, ICE agents shot and killed Silverio Villegas Gonzalez, a 38-year-old Mexican national in a Chicago suburb. Gonzalez, a cook and father of two with no criminal record, was shot in his car after agents attempted to arrest him.
A DHS statement said Gonzalez had steered his car at agents, dragging one officer and causing him to fire out of fear for his life. Police bodycam footage obtained by Reuters complicated that narrative, with the ICE agent saying his injuries were “nothing major.”
Border Patrol agents also shot a woman in Chicago in October. DHS said the shooting was in self-defense after the woman, Marimar Martinez, rammed into the agents’ vehicle. But her lawyer said video footage showed the agents hit her car before opening fire.
In December, ICE agents fired at a van carrying two men they were targeting for arrest, leaving one with bullet wounds. A DHS statement said the men drove the van at ICE officers, prompting them to fire in self-defense.
