Mozambique: Confirmed cases of mpox came from Malawi

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Mozambique: Confirmed cases of mpox came from Malawi

7:11 CAT | 16 Jul 2025

Photo: O País

Mozambique’s government said on Tuesday that the three confirmed cases of mpox, all in the northern province of Niassa, originated in neighbouring Malawi, where the outbreak has affected more than 50 people.

“These are three Mozambican citizens who travelled from Malawi to Mozambique. Malawi has many more cases, just over 40. I believe it must be through contact,” said the cabinet spokesman, Inocêncio Impissa, at the end of the cabinet meeting held in Beira, Sofala province on Tuesday.

Mozambican health authorities have three confirmed cases of mpox, all in the northern province of Niassa, but have raised the total number of suspected cases to 11, according to a disease update released on Monday.

The cabinet spokesman said that the health authorities have the situation “under control” and have taken measures to contain the disease within the border district, keeping it from reaching other parts of the country.

“What the country [Mozambique] has done is to quarantine them so that they can be monitored in isolation and prevent them from spreading the disease. The health sector is on alert and creating conditions to keep cases within the district of Lago [Niassa, northern Mozambique] and protect other Mozambicans,‘ said Impissa.

’The patients are clinically stable and are in home isolation, under the supervision of health authorities,” the Ministry of Health said earlier.

A source from the Ministry of Health confirmed to Lusa that these are the first three cases of mpox in Mozambique during the current outbreak affecting several countries in the African region. This outbreak has been reported in 22 countries, resulting in 501 deaths from January 1 to July 8.

Authorities first recorded the initial cases of mpox in the previous outbreak in Mozambique in 2022, in Maputo.

In the southern African region, which includes Mozambique, authorities previously reported cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola, Malawi, South Africa, Tanzania and Zambia.

Experts first identified mpox, a zoonotic viral disease, in 1970 in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

In August 2024, the World Health Organisation declared mpox a Public Health Emergency of International Concern for the second time, highlighting the growing number of cases, deaths and geographical spread, according to the Mozambican Ministry of Health.

Source: Lusa