Monkeypox in Central African Republic

Monkeypox in Central African Republic

On 6 September 2016, the Ministry of Health staff from Haute-Kotto health district alerted the central level of suspected monkeypox cases admitted at Ira Banda health centre. The index case was a hunter who fell ill on 17 August and died in his village without specimens being collected for laboratory testing. Between 4 September and 7 October, 26 cases have been admitted and of these, three have been laboratory confirmed for monkeypox. Epidemiological investigations are currently on-going to evaluate the magnitude of the outbreak.