A total of 524 confirmed cases of monkeypox, including 12 deaths, have been reported across 11 African countries since 2022, announced World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Director for Africa Matshidiso Moeti Thursday.

The majority of the confirmed cases are in Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and Ghana, said Moeti at an online press briefing, adding that out of the 12 deaths, 6 were reported in Nigeria, 4 in Ghana, and 2 in the Central African Republic.

Although no single monkeypox vaccine has been administered to any high-risk group in any of the African countries reporting cases, WHO has provided 39,000 test kits to countries, enabling improved testing rates, said Moeti.

Monkeypox spreads through close, often skin-to-skin contact, including direct contact with rashes, scabs, or bodily fluids from a person with monkeypox, touching surfaces that have been contaminated with the virus, or contact with respiratory secretions from someone with the virus.

Regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, the African continent has seen a six-week decline in cases, with levels now down to the levels that were reported in the very early days of the pandemic nearly three years ago, said Moeti.