The number of confirmed mpox cases in Guinea has surpassed 200 since the outbreak began in September 2024, health authorities announced on Friday.
Several neighboring countries are also reporting a rise in infections, prompting renewed concerns across West Africa.
According to Sory Keira, spokesperson for Guinea’s National Agency for Health Security (ANSS), a total of 206 cases have been documented, including 77 hospitalisations and one death.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has reiterated that mpox continues to pose a global health emergency. Last month, WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus highlighted the ongoing spread of the virus in West Africa as a cause for concern.
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Mpox, a viral disease related to smallpox, is transmitted to humans through contact with infected animals or close physical contact with an infected person. It presents symptoms such as fever, muscle pain, and distinctive boil-like skin lesions. The virus has two known variants: clade 1 and clade 2.
Initially identified in humans in 1970 in the Democratic Republic of Congo, mpox remained largely confined to central Africa until a global outbreak in May 2022, when clade 2 began spreading internationally, particularly among gay and bisexual men.
WHO noted in June that the virus remains a public health emergency due to rising case numbers, particularly in West Africa, and the potential for undetected transmission beyond the continent.
Between January and late May 2025, Sierra Leone recorded 3,350 cases and 16 deaths. Liberia reported 71 active cases as of early June, according to its National Public Health Institute.
Thousands of additional cases have also been reported this year in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, and Burundi.