Ministry of Health has recorded five new Mpox cases within six days, bringing the total number of cases to 68, with one death since Malawi reported its first three cases in April this year.
According to Public Health Institute of Malawi (Phim) Mpox weekly report issued on Monday, out of the 68 cases, 41 are males while 27 are females all recorded in 11 districts.
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Topping Mpox distribution list is Lilongwe with 54 cases followed by Blantyre and Mangochi with three cases each. Salima recorded two Mpox cases while Ntcheu, Likoma, Nkhata Bay, Mzimba, Ntchisi and Karonga recorded one case each.
The report further states that out of the 68 total recorded cases, 51 have recovered and have been discharged from clinical care and that 913 contacts have been identified.
Reads the report in part: “Two cases under Lilongwe District were classified as lost-to-follow up after proving difficult to trace.
“Meanwhile, the remaining 14 cases are under clinical care, two under hospital isolation in Lilongwe, while 12 are under home isolation.”
Phim observed that the disease can be prevented by refraining from close contact with individuals who have Mpox, not sharing beddings, clothing, or towels with sick people and washing hands frequently with soap and water or an alcohol-based hand sanitizer, among others.
The continued spread of Mpox cases comes at a time political parties have intensified their campaign rallies ahead of the September 16 2025 General Election.
Commenting on the matter, Malawi Health Equity Network (Mhen) executive director George Jobe suspected that some of the cases are related to political campaign gatherings.
He said the rising number of cases should send a strong message to Malawians on the need to ensure that everyone is adhering to Mpox preventive measures.
In a written response, Ministry of Health Principal Secretary Samson Mndolo said the ministry encourages isolation of cases to prevent others from getting infected.
He said the ministry has also intensified case finding, contact tracing and monitoring to detect suspected cases early.
