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They must not be secretive about stats like they did during the COVID-19 pandemic. We would ask them to release daily Mpox statistics that are broken down into regions, fatalities and most importantly tests conducted. – DA Health spokesperson, Bosman Grobler.

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Sizwe sama Yende

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The DA in Mpumalanga has requested Health MEC, Sasekani Manzini, to explain if the province was ready to deal the looming disaster of monkeypox (Mpox).

The World Health Organisation (WHO) recently declared the Mpox a global health emergency and warned that a deadlier strain was spreading to multiple African countries.

From the beginning of 2022 to July 28, the Centre for Diseases Control and Prevention (CDC),  reported that there was a total of 37 583 cases and 1 451 deaths from Mpox reported in 15 African countries, including South Africa.

DA Health spokesperson, Bosman Grobler, said the figures were worrisome.

Mpumalanga Health spokesperson, Dumisani Malamule, did not respond to written questions sent to him on Wednesday.

“The DA wants to know if the Mpumalanga Department of Health and the Provincial Government have had any strategic planning meetings to respond to the virus should it hit the province like the COVID-19 pandemic. They really cannot afford to wait for national government to tell them when and how to plan against this virus. We need to be pro-active,” Grobler said.

Grobler said that the department needed to be transparent and publicly publish Mpox statistics daily should the province record any cases.

“They must not be secretive about stats like they did during the COVID-19 pandemic. We would ask them to release daily Mpox statistics that are broken down into regions, fatalities and most importantly tests conducted,” he said.

According to the CDC South Africa has reported 24 Mpox cases and three deaths as of August 5. CDC said that 22 of the 24 cases were reported between 8 May and 6 July 2024 in Gauteng, Western Cape, and KwaZulu-Natal.

WHO says that Mpox is an infectious disease caused by the monkeypox virus (MPXV). The disease transmits between humans through close contact with lesions, body fluids, respiratory droplets or contaminated materials, or from animals to humans through contact with live animals or consumption of contaminated bushmeat.

Mpox causes signs and symptoms which usually begin within a week of exposure but can start one to 21 days later.

The symptoms typically last two to four weeks but may last longer in someone with a weakened immune system. Fever, muscle aches and sore throat appear first, followed by skin and mucosal rash. Lymphadenopathy (swollen lymph nodes) is also a typical feature of mpox, present in most cases.

Children, pregnant women and people with weak immune systems are at risk of developing complications and death from mpox.

It is important to distinguish mpox from chickenpox, measles, bacterial skin infections, scabies, herpes, syphilis, other sexually transmissible infections, and medication-associated allergies.

Someone with mpox may also concurrently have another sexually transmissible infection such as herpes. Alternatively, a child or adult with suspected mpox may have chickenpox.