These must-have Insider Deal household items are at unbeatable prices!FILE - Vials of single doses of the Jynneos vaccine for mpox are seen from a cooler at a vaccinations site on Aug. 29, 2022, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. South African health authorities have reported two deaths from mpox in the space of three days. Health Minister Joe Phaahla says Thursday the two fatalities this week were among six recent confirmed cases of mpox in South Africa, all of them men in their 30s.
In all cases, the men had no travel history to countries currently experiencing an outbreak,"which suggests there is local transmission of this infectious disease,” Phaahla said. He said the six men had underlying conditions. The latest man to die had HIV. Mpox is known to be more deadly in people with other health conditions, particularly those that weaken their immune systems., is a rare disease caused by infection with a virus that’s in the same family as the one that causes smallpox. It is common to other parts of Africa, where people are often infected through bites from rodents or other small animals.
Mpox was not known to spread easily among people until 2022, when authorities detected epidemics in Europe, North America and elsewhere and the World Health OrganizationThat epidemic also marked the first time that mpox was seen to spread via sex; the majority of people affected were gay or bisexual men. The U.N. health agency said last year mpox wasWHO reported last month that there had been 186 mpox deaths worldwide since 2022, with a fatality rate of less than 1%.
South Africa last recorded an mpox case in 2022, Phaahla said. He said South Africa doesn't have any vaccines but was considering obtaining doses and rolling out an immunization campaign.Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.