Ethiopia confirms first mpox cases
May 29, 2025
Ethiopia has confirmed its first mpox cases—a newborn and the infant’s parents—raising the number of African countries battling outbreaks to 25. The infections in Moyale, near the Kenyan border, likely involve clade 1b. Meanwhile, Sierra Leone continues to drive regional transmission, accounting for 74% of new confirmed cases. The Africa CDC warns that 6.4 million vaccine doses are urgently needed, yet nearly 570,000 pledged doses from the U.S. and UNICEF remain delayed due to funding uncertainties. As outbreaks expand, swift vaccine deployment, contact tracing, and field workforce mobilization remain critical to preventing further spread and averting a broader health emergency.
The spread of mpox across Africa reached another milestone this week as Ethiopia confirmed its first three cases—an infant and the child’s two parents in the border town of Moyale. With this development, 25 African countries are now reporting mpox outbreaks, highlighting the virus’s relentless advance across the continent. According to Dr. Ngashi Ngongo, head of the Africa CDC’s mpox incident management team, the likely culprit is clade 1b, the highly transmissible variant also active in neighboring Kenya.
While Ethiopia has moved quickly to isolate cases and initiate contact tracing, the broader regional picture remains troubling. The current upward trend is largely driven by a surge in Sierra Leone, which accounted for 74% of the continent’s confirmed new cases last week. Together with Uganda, these two countries now represent 93% of Africa’s reported cases. Malawi and Togo, both newly affected, are also showing rising trends, with 122 and 37 new cases, respectively.
What complicates the response is a mounting vaccine shortage. Africa CDC has identified an urgent need for 6.4 million mpox vaccine doses between March and August. Though shipments of LC-16 vaccine from Japan and Bavarian Nordic doses from France are expected soon, approximately 570,000 pledged doses from the U.S. and UNICEF are stalled due to funding uncertainties.
There is a silver lining. This week, training began in Kinshasa to administer Japan’s LC-16 vaccine, ahead of a delivery of 1.5 million doses. Yet the pace of the outbreak continues to outstrip the availability of vaccines. Without immediate resolution of funding and supply bottlenecks, the mpox crisis threatens to deepen, spreading across borders and overwhelming already strained health systems. The international community must act now to fund and support Africa’s response before the window for containment closes.