Mozambique: Number of confirmed mpox cases rises to 17 – AIM report

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Mozambique: Number of confirmed mpox cases rises to 17 – AIM report

8:58 CAT | 30 Jul 2025

FILE - For illustration purposes only. [File photo via Domingo]

The Mozambican health authorities have announced that the number of confirmed cases of the disease mpox (formerly known as monkey pox), in the northern province of Niassa, have risen from 13 to 17.

According to the daily bulletin on M-pox, issued by the National Public Health Directorate, the new cases were recorded in Lago district, in the following administrative posts: Cobué (13 cases), Metangula (2 cases) and Maniamba (2 cases).

“Of the 17 confirmed cases, 7 (41%) are female and the remainder are male. Patients range in age from 17 to 38 years. Among the patients confirmed with M-pox, two (17%) tested positive for HIV, thus presenting a co-infection”, reads the report.

The document guarantees that all patients are stable and progressing satisfactorily in home isolation. “Nobody was discharged as all patients have not completed 21 days of isolation. The first three samples confirmed the presence of the mox clade Ib virus (also circulating in Tanzania), and the remaining samples are still being processed”, reads the note.

According to the authorities, from July 10th to 27th, a total of 92 suspected cases were identified in the following provinces: Niassa (57), Tete (8), Maputo City (7), Maputo Province (7), Manica (4), Zambézia (3), Cabo Delgado (3), Nampula (2), and Sofala (1).

“With the declaration of the mpox outbreak in Niassa, the alert level in all provinces has increased. As a result, we are seeing more suspected cases in several provinces”, said the bulletin.

Of the 92 suspected cases, 87 samples have been tested so far, and 5 samples are being processed. “Of these samples, 70 have already been discarded for testing negative. Therefore, 95% of the samples have already returned results”, the document says.

Recently, the National Health Institute (INS) announced that although the country has no vaccine to respond to the mpox outbreak, there is no risk of it becoming a pandemic.

Mpox is a viral disease, transmitted from animals to human beings, which was first identified in 1970, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The current outbreak in Africa has been reported in 22 countries, in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region, the countries affected are the DRC, Angola, Malawi, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia and now Mozambique.

Source: AIM