Outbreaks of the Ebola virus, monkeypox, and other diseases caused by animal-to-human infection in Africa have spiked by 63% across the last decade, much of that rise occurring in 2019 and 2020 alone. Across the entire span, there were 1,843 recorded public health events, with 30% attributed to zoonotic diseases. “While these numbers have increased over the past two decades, there was a particular spike in 2019 and 2020 when zoonotic pathogens represented around 50% of public health events,” said WHO in a statement. About 70% of the outbreaks were caused by viral hemorrhagic fevers, Ebola among them, while monkeypox, dengue fever, anthrax and other diseases made up the remaining 30%. But the overall rise in animal-to-human disease transmission is likely caused by several other reasons.

Source: The North Africa Journal July 16, 2022 02:04 UTC