outbreaklatest news & developments
DA leader John Steenhuisen. (Delwyn Verasamy/ M&G)

Steenhuisen confirms 274 foot-and-mouth disease cases in five provinces

Officials said South Africa’s phytosanitary and biosecurity requirements are world class and the department is awaiting bilateral trade agreements to be resolved to begin exports of beef

  • Eyaaz
4 min read
The health department says the country still has has enough vaccines based on the number of active cases. (Photo by: NIH-NIAID/IMAGE POINT FR/BSIP/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Government says mpox is under control but cites Covid-19 pandemic in urging caution

President Cyril Ramaphosa said it was about the rapid spread of the disease across the continent, which reflected a ‘concerning shift in the epidemiological pattern’

  • Umamah Bakharia
4 min read
Mpox has been declared a public health emergency by the ACDC. (Photo via Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images)

South Africa’s health department urges vigilance as mpox is declared a continental public health emergency

The African Centres for Disease Control said so far in 2024, 13 countries had confirmed 2 863 cases and 517 deaths from the viral disease

  • Umamah Bakharia
4 min read
This 1997 image was created during an investigation into an outbreak of monkeypox, which took place in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), formerly Zaire, and depicts the palms of a patient with a case of monkeypox in Lodja, a town in the Katako-Kombe health zone. (Photo by: CDC/IMAGE POINT FR/BSIP/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

New strain of mpox cases surge in DRC and neighbouring countries

The Clade Ib strain has already jumped borders, with cases being reported in Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda and Kenya in the last two weeks

  • Des Erasmus
4 min read