Now, senior health officials in Africa have declared a continental public health emergency over a new outbreak of Mpox. Cases of the highly infectious disease, previously known as Monkeypox, have spread quickly this year. Data released in recent days by the Africa Center for Disease, Control and Prevention show at least 887 new confirmed and suspected cases of Mpox have been reported in the past week. That takes the total for the year to 15,132. Sixteen African countries have reported cases, including the Democratic Republic of Congo, which has more than 90% of the recorded infections. And the disease can lead to fatalities. 461 people in Africa have died from Mpox this year. Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda have reported their first cases of the disease, and the World Health Organization is considering whether to declare a global emergency. I'm joined here by Simi Jalesu, who joins us now from Lagos. Simi, thanks very much for being with us. Just tell us a bit more about the spread of this disease and how alarmed people are.

Simi, can you hear us? Sorry, Geeta, could you repeat that question, please?

Yes, sorry, Simi, can you just tell us a bit more about how fast this is spreading and how worrying this is for populations across the continent?

Well, the Africa Census for Disease Control today said the reason they've declared that public health emergency is because of how quickly it has spread over just a few months and the high fatality rate as well. The first case was in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and so far, there have been around 14,000 cases, as I believe you've mentioned, and 450 deaths. But the issue how fast it's spreading across countries. It's now been detected in Uganda, in Kenya, in Burundi, and in the Central African Republic. They've traced it to the fact that people are traveling across these countries. But they're hoping now with this declaration that governments will combine efforts to combat this outbreak, whether that includes ensuring there's adequate medical supplies and medical aids in affected area, whether that includes increasing public awareness through better health campaigns, but also increasing surveillance at airports.

And is there any sign as yet of a vaccine rollout?

Well, again, the Africa CDC has said that at least 10 million doses are needed to increase protection on the continent, but there are only 200,000 vaccine doses available to them. So today, the director general did say that they are mobilizing efforts to secure more vaccines by talking to international partners to see how that can be done. And possibly because of this declaration being made, that can be done imminently.

And what is known about how this infection is spread?

Well, this particular strain of Mpox, which is called clade 1B, is spread through close contact, specifically skin to skin and through bodily fluids. It causes skin lesions, rashes, and flu-like symptoms, but it is deadly. Four in every 100 cases lead to death. And the concern is that there is no treatment for it. Hence, why the CDC has said it is very much important for them to make sure they can secure enough vaccines to prevent a further spread of the disease on the continent.

So Jaya, so in Lagos, thank you very much indeed.