ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Africa is seeing a rapid increase in mpox cases with nearly 4,000 reported in the past week, the continent's public health body said Tuesday as it repeated a plea for long-awaited vaccines whose arrival this week in the most affected country, Congo, has been delayed.
Eighty-one deaths from mpox were reported in Africa in the past week, bringing the total cases and deaths to 22,863 and 622, respectively, Dr. Jean Kaseya, head of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told an online briefing.
About 380,000 doses of mpox vaccines have been promised by Western partners such as the European Union and the United States, he said. That's less than 15% of the doses authorities have said are needed to end the mpox outbreaks in Congo, the epicenter of the global health emergency.
Following mpox outbreaks outside the African continent in 2022, wealthy countries quickly responded with vaccines and treatments from their stockpiles. However, only a few doses have reached Africa despite pleas from its governments.
At the earliest, the first batch of vaccine doses promised to support the new outbreaks in Congo will arrive on Sept. 1 after delays caused by documentation and emergency authorization issues, Kaseya said.
The batch would include 50,000 doses promised by the U.S. government and 15,000 from vaccines alliance GAVI, said Dr. Ngashi Ngongo, the Africa CDC incidents manager on mpox.
"It is just a matter of now waiting on the U.S. government on the transfer of those vaccines,” Ngongo said.
Congo has also requested at least 2 million doses from Japan of vaccines that are particularly effective in protecting children, he said, with negotiations “quite advanced.”
The new mpox variant first detected in Congo and blamed for the ongoing outbreaks is already triggering “significant" community-level transmission elsewhere, Ngongo said.
For example, in neighboring Burundi, nearly 800 mpox cases have been recorded in the last month, he said.
The U.S. on Tuesday donated 10,000 doses of mpox vaccines to Nigeria, where the disease has been common. Nigeria has recorded 40 mpox cases this year, according to Nigeria's CDC.
The Africa CDC said it is working on a unified response plan for the outbreaks which will be presented to African heads of state for consideration at a meeting in September.
So far, African countries are promoting health measures and hygiene practices that would slow the spread of the mpox virus, Kaseya said.
Experts, however, have said such measures are difficult to enforce in Congo, where millions fleeing violence are crammed in displaced camps amid a decadelong humanitarian crisis.
“Humanitarian actors are struggling to control the outbreak due to insufficient resources,” said Heather Kerr, the International Rescue Committee country director in Congo, adding that children are especially vulnerable.
Associated Press journalist Gerald Imray in Cape Town, South Africa, contributed.
People sit at the Don Bosco refugee camp as Red Cross officials create awareness around mpox in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo, Thursday, Aug. 22, 2023. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)
Christophe Chavilinga, suffering from mpox, waits for treatment at a clinic in Munigi, Congo, Aug. 16, 2024. The World Health Organization declared the ongoing outbreaks of mpox in Congo and elsewhere in Africa to be a global emergency. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)
WINDER, Ga. (AP) — A Georgia county's emergency call center was overwhelmed by calls on Sept. 4 about a school shooting at Apalachee High School, records released Friday by Barrow County show.
Local news organizations report many of the 911 phone calls were not released under public record requests because state law exempts from release calls recording the voice of someone younger than 18 years old. That exemption would cover calls from most of the 1,900 students at the school in Winder, northeast of Atlanta.
Calls spiked around 10:20 a.m., when authorities have said that 14-year-old Colt Gray began shooting. Many calls were answered with automated message saying there was a “high call volume," WAGA-TV reported.
One man called 911 after receiving text messages from a girlfriend. He was put on hold for just over 10 minutes because of an influx of calls at the time of the shooting, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
“She hears people yelling outside, so I don’t know if that’s officers in the building or that’s — I don’t know,” he said, adding that she was eventually evacuated out of the school.
Other adults also called 911 after their children contacted them.
“My daughter calling me crying. Somebody go ‘boom, boom, boom, boom,’ ” one mother said. The 911 operator responded: “Ma’am we have officers out there, OK?”
Parents of students at an elementary school and middle school neighboring Apalachee also flooded 911 seeking information.
“Sir, my daughter goes to school next door to Apalachee. Is there a school shooter?" one caller asked.
“We do have an active situation (at) Apalachee High School right now," the operator responded. "We have a lot of calls coming in.”
More than 500 radio messages between emergency personnel were also released Friday.
“Active shooter!” an officer yells in one audio clip while speaking with a dispatcher, CNN reported. Another officer responds, “Correct. We have an active shooter at Apalachee High School.”
The shooting killed teachers Richard Aspinwall, 39, and Cristina Irimie, 53, as well as students Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, both 14. Another teacher and eight more students were wounded, with seven of those hit by gunfire.
Colt Gray is charged as an adult with four counts of murder, and District Attorney Brad Smith has said more charges are likely to be filed against him in connection with the wounded. Authorities have also charged his father, Colin Gray, alleging that he gave his son access to the gun when he knew or should have known that the teen was a danger to himself and others.
The 13,000 students at Barrow County’s other schools returned to class Tuesday. The 1,900 students who attend Apalachee are supposed to start returning the week of Sept. 23, officials said Friday.
Mourners listen to a speaker during a candlelight vigil for the slain students and teachers at Apalachee High School, Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024, in Winder, Ga. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
A memorial is seen at Apalachee High School after the Wednesday school shooting, Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024, in Winder, Ga. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
This combo of images show shooting victims, from left, Christian Angulo, Mason Schermerhorn, Cristina Irimie and Richard Aspinwall, displayed at a memorial outside Apalachee High School, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, in Winder, Ga. (AP Photo/Charlotte Kramon)
Two students view a memorial as the flags fly half-staff after a shooting Wednesday at Apalachee High School, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024, in Winder, Ga. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
911 calls overwhelmed operators after shooting at Georgia's Apalachee High School
911 calls overwhelmed operators after shooting at Georgia's Apalachee High School
Students and parents walk off campus at Apalachee High School, Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024, in Winder, Ga. A shooting at the Georgia high school Wednesday caused an unknown number of injuries and a suspect was arrested in a chaotic scene. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
