The Africa Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) says the continent achieved improved control of infectious disease outbreaks in 2025, despite rising public health threats.
Prof. Yap Boum, Incident Manager for Health Emergencies at Africa CDC, made the remarks on Thursday during the continent’s virtual weekly press briefing.
Boum noted that coordinated responses, strengthened surveillance, and expanded vaccination efforts enabled African countries to contain several high-risk outbreaks compared to 2024.
He highlighted that major Ebola outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Uganda were successfully controlled in 2025. The 16th Ebola outbreak in the DRC was officially declared over on December 1, following 42 days without new cases after the recovery of the last confirmed patient. The response achieved over 97 percent contact follow-up, alongside intensified vaccination, surveillance at points of entry, and cross-border coordination.
Uganda’s Sudan Ebola Virus Disease outbreak, confirmed in January, was contained within 86 days, with 14 cumulative cases and four deaths recorded.
On Mpox, Boum said the continent recorded a sharp decline in confirmed cases in the second half of the year. “Over the last six weeks, confirmed Mpox cases declined from a peak six-week average of 1,442 to 199 cases, representing an 86 percent reduction,” he said. More than five million doses of Mpox vaccines were delivered to 16 countries, with over 1.95 million people vaccinated with at least one dose across Africa.
Despite the progress, Africa continued to face serious health threats, particularly from cholera, diphtheria, and viral haemorrhagic fevers. Cholera remained the deadliest outbreak in 2025, with more than 317,000 cases and over 7,200 deaths reported across 25 member states. South Sudan, Sudan, the DRC, Angola, and Nigeria accounted for nearly 88 percent of all cholera cases.
Boum also expressed concern over the resurgence of diphtheria, a fully vaccine-preventable disease, which recorded more than 18,000 cases and 874 deaths across 10 African countries in 2025.
He stressed the need for African countries to shift from reactive outbreak responses to preventive public health strategies, including strengthening routine immunization, expanding community engagement, and scaling up local vaccine manufacturing.
Boum highlighted the Incident Management Support Team (IMST) as a key coordination mechanism that improved collaboration among member states, partners, and global health institutions during emergencies.
He said Africa CDC would prioritize preventive preparedness in 2026, focusing on accelerating cholera elimination by 2030, transitioning Mpox into routine surveillance, and strengthening responses to emerging viral haemorrhagic fevers.
