Since the World Health Organization (WHO) increased its highest alert level for the potentially fatal viral disease last year, Sierra Leone has reported its first confirmed case of mpox.
The patient is a 27-year-old man from the Western Zone’s rural district, close to the capital, Freetown, according to the National Public Health Agency.
In a social media post, the agency stated, “Health teams are actively tracing and investigating to identify potentially exposed persons and to prevent further spread.”
Although health officials have not identified the variation affecting the patient, the confirmed case was discovered on January 10.
A virus belonging to the same family as smallpox causes mpox, which manifests as vesicles on the skin and a high fever. Before expanding more extensively in 2022, especially to areas where the virus had not previously transmitted, the disease was primarily restricted to a dozen African nations after being discovered for the first time in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1970. In 2024, the WHO issued its highest alert level for the illness.
Health officials in Sierra Leone have quickly implemented containment measures in response. While contacts will be observed for 21 days, the sick patient has been kept in isolation. Every location the patient visited has seen an increase in surveillance.
To stop the spread, a public awareness campaign has been started, and health professionals are receiving training in preventative methods and protective gear.
In the past, Sierra Leone was among the most severely affected nations during the Ebola outbreak, which killed almost 4,000 people between 2014 and 2016, including almost 7% of the country’s medical personnel.