HARARE – Harare city authorities have allayed fears of an Mpox outbreak in the city following tests conducted on two suspected cases which both came out negative.
Harare City’s Health Director, Doctor Prosper Chonzi told ZimLive on Wednesday the two suspected cases had been identified in in the high-density suburb of Kuwadzana.
“There are just two cases in Harare; we took specimens from these individuals who showed some symptoms to the lab and they came out negative.
“Mpox is associated with a fever and these people had no such. We have measles and chicken pox which may seem like Mpox but it’s a different case.
“We now do the tests here in Zimbabwe and not in South Africa as was the case, but we are all on high alert,” he said.
Dr Aspect Maunganidze, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health and Child Care (MoHCC) also said there are no cases reported in Zimbabwe yet.
“We have not recorded any cases of Mpox and the government is vigilant especially at border entry points,” he told ZimLive.
Mpox, previously known as monkeypox, is a viral illness caused by the monkeypox virus, a species of the genus Orthopoxvirus.
Common symptoms of Mpox are a skin rash or mucosal lesions which can last 2–4 weeks accompanied by fever, headache, muscle aches, back pain, low energy and swollen lymph nodes.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has said Mpox constitutes a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) under the International Health Regulations (2005) (IHR), the highest level of alarm under the IHR.
The outbreak, which began in September 2023 in the Democratic Republic of Congo, has seen an increase in the number of cases in that country and is also spreading to neighbouring countries.
Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda have each reported Mpox outbreaks in their territories.
