Mpox: No plan to impose travel restrictions on Africans, says US

The United States has revealed that there are no plans to impose travel restrictions on individuals arriving from African countries due to the rising cases of monkeypox.

The US Global AIDS Coordinator and Senior Bureau Official for Global Health Security and Diplomacy, John Nkengasong, stated this while addressing the issue during an online press briefing on Monday.

“The US currently does not plan to put in place travel restrictions for people travelling from Africa.

“So that is really a rumour. So we do not at this point think that is going to happen,” Nkengasong stated, categorically dismissing the claims.

The ambassador’s remarks were made to quell concerns that the U.S. might reinstate travel policies similar to those introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic, including mandatory vaccinations for travellers.

Nkengasong emphasised that the rumours were unfounded and that the U.S. government was not considering such actions.

The coordinator further noted that the U.S. will continue to work with the African Centres for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organisation to ensure the spread of lethal outbreaks of mpox in Africa does not develop into a pandemic.

He also promised an additional $35m in support to fight mpox.

“The US is mobilising additional resources. The USAID just announced $35m, and again, we will stay committed until we bring this outbreak to – control it in collaboration, of course, with others: the WHO and Africa CDC,” he noted.

The WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus declared mpox a public health emergency of international concern twice, the first time in May 2022 and the second time in August 2024.

The ECOWAS Regional Centre for Surveillance and Disease Control in August reported that Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire, Liberia, and Ghana were the hardest-hit countries in ECOWAS.

The PUNCH reported that the African continent, however, has continued to face significant challenges in controlling the spread of Mpox, with a marked increase in cases and fatalities since the beginning of 2024.

With 37,583 cases and 1,451 deaths reported this year, the continent is facing a massive public health emergency.

The Democratic Republic of Congo is bearing the brunt of this crisis, shockingly accounting for 96.3 per cent of all cases and 97 per cent of deaths continent-wide in 2024 alone.

The first half of 2024 saw an explosive rise in infections across Africa—14,250 Mpox cases and 456 deaths—representing a 160 per cent increase in cases and a 19 per cent jump in fatalities compared to the same period last year.

Over the last year, in 2023, the US allocated more than 2.65 billion – 2.65 billion – in bilateral health funding to countries in Central and East Africa.

Secondly, in March this year, the USAID and CDC together have already provided over 20 million to support mpox response efforts for Central and East African countries.