The African Union's health agency reported on Thursday that approximately 1,100 people have died from Mpox across Africa, warning that the epidemic is spiraling out of control without immediate action.

Since January, there have been 42,000 recorded cases, with new instances reported for the first time in Zambia and Zimbabwe, raising the total number of affected African countries to 18 this year.

In August, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared Mpox a global public health emergency on following an outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo that has since spread to neighboring countries.

"Mpox is going out of control if we don't act," Jean Kaseya, Africa CDC head said during an online media briefing. Kaseya expressed sadness that over 1,000 deaths have occurred due to the virus detailing "this week, week 40, we have 1,100 deaths reported in total."

Most deaths have occurred in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the outbreak's epicenter, which began a vaccination campaign earlier this month. However, he noted that new cases continue to emerge across the continent.

"18 countries is too much, we cannot continue like that," he said, urging international partners to take action and release funds pledged to combat the disease, adding that "concrete action" is needed to end the outbreak.

Mpox, previously known as monkeypox, is caused by a virus transmitted to humans by infected animals, but can also be passed from human to human through close physical contact. It causes fever, muscular aches, and large boil-like skin lesions, and can be deadly.

Mpox vaccine delays in Africa expose global health inequities

In August, 10,000 Mpox vaccines were scheduled to arrive in Africa, much later than in over 70 other countries, exposing ongoing global healthcare inequities, according to a Reuters report.

Despite the urgency, the arrival of these vaccines comes much later than in over 70 other countries, exposing ongoing global healthcare inequities.

This delay serves to show that the lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic regarding equitable healthcare distribution have yet to be fully implemented.

The report pointed out that several obstacles contributed to the delay in vaccine distribution to African countries.

One major hurdle was the World Health Organization’s (WHO) delay in initiating the process needed for poorer countries to gain access to large quantities of vaccines through international agencies.

Had this process started years earlier, it would have potentially mitigated the current crisis, experts say.