Ghana has seen an “exponential” increase in mpox cases over the past week, while there have been smaller increases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Guinea, Burundi, and Kenya, according to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC).
Ghana now has 313 confirmed cases, an 87% increase over the previous week when it had 167 cases, said Professor Yap Boum, the institution’s deputy lead on mpox at a media briefing on Thursday. Ghana and Guinea have both applied for vaccines to Africa CDC.
The DRC, Uganda, Sierra Leone, Burundi, Guinea, Liberia account for 86% of cases on the continent. While there was a small 7% uptick in cases over the past week, overall cases are down 76% since the peak of the epidemic.
Increase in Western Pacific
Globally, 47 countries in five of the six World Health Organization (WHO) regions had reported mpox cases by the end of July, according to the latest WHO surveillance report.
The Western Pacific reported a 160% increase in cases between June and July driven by the increase in cases in Philippines (from zero cases to 126 confirmed cases in July) and China (from 108 to 152 confirmed cases), according to the WHO report.
China, Germany, Türkiye, and the United Kingdom reported additional mpox cases last month of clade Ib MPXV linked to travel. Community transmission of this more serious clade is only happening in central and eastern Africa.
Overall, however, mpox cases are decreasing – particularly in African countries with a 28% reduction in cases between June and July, although 21 still have active cases.
Cases in the WHO regions of the Americas and Europe both reported a 31% reduction in cases. The Eastern Mediterranean Region did not report any mpox case in July 2025 .
Cholera task force
Cholera cases are also declining in Africa, aside from in the DRC and Chad.
African leaders have resolved to establish a Continental Task Force on Cholera Control and a Presidential Task Forces in the 23 affected countries, which is largely caused by inadequate access to clean water and sanitation.
Africa has already recorded 231,738 cholera cases so far this year – which is close to the total number of cases for 2024.
source: https://healthpolicy-watch.news/mpox-cases-rise-in-ghana-philippines-and-china-but-decline-overall/
Image Credits: Katson Maliro/ WHO, WHO.
