Health and Wellness
With regard to mpox, the infectious disease caused by the monkeypox virus (MPXV):
- How many (a) infections have been recorded in the province and (b) deaths have been recorded as the result of mpox;
- whether her Department is undertaking any work to assess the extent of the undetected community transmission that is taking place; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details;
- (a) what epidemiological surveillance of mpox (i) has been and (ii) is currently being conducted and (b) what vaccination programmes, if any, have been implemented;
- whether vaccinations are available in the province; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details;
- whether any communication strategies or programmes have been implemented to raise awareness about mpox; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?
(1)(a) One laboratory confirmed case was diagnosed at a private hospital in the Western Cape Province. The case had a residential address in Johannesburg, Gauteng.
(b) None.
(2) In line with the national preparedness and response activities, the province is strengthening surveillance, laboratory testing, epidemiological investigations and contact tracing for mpox. Provincial Circular H102/2024 was issued on 8 August 2024 - it stipulates the key provincial preparedness and response activities. This is in line with the National MPOX Preparedness and Response Plans.
(3)(a)(i) All healthcare workers/ professionals and facilities are on high alert to detect and investigate suspected mpox cases and their contacts – based on case definitions and reporting requirements, and collection of laboratory samples for diagnosis.
(ii) Mpox is a category 1 Notifiable Medical Condition and thus any suspected mpox case should be reported and notified by the clinician on the Notifiable Medical Conditions (NMC) application/system for early detection, diagnosis, case management, and contact tracing. The national Health Laboratory Services and private laboratories are equipped to test samples for mpox, and submit samples where mpox was detected to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases for specialised testing.
(b) No vaccination programme has been implemented as yet. The National mpox vaccination strategy will be developed and shared with provinces for implementation.
(4) Vaccines are not available in the province. We are waiting on a national mpox vaccination strategy to ensure procurement and implementation of a vaccination programme for specific target or high-risk groups. This will ensure the programme is implemented in provinces. The Access to Vaccine Pillar in the National MPOX Incident Management Team is responsible for working with all stakeholders to develop the vaccination programme.
(5) The National Department of Health-IMT RCCE Pillar developed a Risk Communication and Community Engagement Strategy. The provincial Communications Directorate makes use of the national IEC material for dissemination on various platforms; and use different modes of communication based on the epidemiology of the disease.
A provincial circular has been issued with guidance on mpox clinical management, enhanced surveillance, infection prevention and control, and public health response in the province. Various national webinars are ongoing at a national and provincial level for clinicians, healthcare workers (multi-disciplinary) , and border management staff
