Mozambique reports four more confirmed mpox cases

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Mozambique reports four more confirmed mpox cases

1:46 CAT | 28 Jul 2025

FILE - For illustration purposes only. [File photo: WHO]

Mozambican health authorities on Sunday confirmed four more positive cases of mpox in the previous 24 hours, bringing the total to 17, all in the northern province of Niassa. There are, in addition, 96 suspected cases.

The latest daily bulletin on the disease’s evolution, released by the National Directorate of Public Health and with data from July 11th to 26th, in addition to the 17 positive cases, also states that there are 26 cases in isolation.

The four new cases, recorded in the previous 24 hours, were also confirmed in Lago district, Niassa. Nine new suspected cases were recorded in the same period – including one in Maputo province and the rest in Niassa – in addition to 63 contacts being monitored by health authorities.

The bulletin indicates that there are no recorded deaths in this mpox outbreak in Mozambique.

Health authorities have given assurances that Mozambique is prepared to deal with mpox, with capacity for 4,000 locally conducted tests, having already used more than 80 in this outbreak.

“We have good testing capacity. Testing, at least for our country, is guaranteed,” Filipe Murimirgua, coordinator of the Public Health Emergency Operations Center (COESP), told Lusa.

The current mpox (monkeypox) outbreak is located in Lago, Niassa province, near Malawi and Tanzania, with 17 confirmed cases, all in stable condition.

“Since it’s an infectious disease, there’s always a risk of spread, which is why all provinces are on alert and have already begun monitoring for cases and testing,” said Murimirgua.

He acknowledged improvements in processes following the 2022 outbreak: “The country is better organized, especially in terms of early case detection. [In the Niassa outbreak], it was possible to detect cases with the collaboration of other neighbouring countries. Malawi, for example, supported identification and reporting, which was very helpful.”

Mpox is a zoonotic viral disease, first identified in 1970 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In the current outbreak in southern Africa, 77,458 cases have been reported in 22 countries since January 1st, with 501 deaths.

The first case of mpox in Mozambique occurred in October 2022, with a patient in Maputo. Filipe Murimirgua points to the testing capacity now available in the provinces, with 4,000 tests available and 1,000 for reagent analysis to identify strains of positive cases, as the biggest change in three years.

“As soon as the Public Health Emergency of International Concern was declared [by the WHO, in August, 2024] for the second time, the country invested in laboratory capacity to test at the provincial level as well,” Murimirgua added.

Mozambique now has the capacity to test in all provincial capitals, through Public Health laboratories: “There is enormous testing capacity. I would say that our capacity is still underutilized. All suspected cases are tested, and we are able to provide results in a timely manner.”

He assured that public health authorities were making “an effort to contain the outbreak”, still localized in the Lago district, but that everything depends on “the collaboration of the population,” which is “one of the challenges”. “If we have collaboration, I think we can still contain the outbreak in that region.”

On the ground, health authorities are trying to get the message across, focusing on Niassa.

“He only has skin lesions, occasional fevers, and he’s not in a serious-enough condition to be isolated at home. So, he continues to carry out his daily activities, even though the sector is increasingly monitoring and communicating the measures and risks,” said Filipe Murimirgua, pledging that “everything is being done” with the support of communities and community leaders.

“We are confident. I think we have the capacity, first the diagnostic capacity, we also have the isolation capacity, both at home and in health units. We are creating spaces for isolating serious cases, and we also have the much more communication component,” he concluded.

Source: Lusa