As Ghana confirms its first Mpox cases of the year, Public Health Expert Samuel Arthur is sounding the alarm: the virus is not just a passing concern but a serious threat that should be handled with the same urgency as COVID-19.
“It is very fatal,” he warned in an interview with ABC News GH, pointing out that “we are looking up to around 17.8 to some cases 30.5% fatality. So it is important that we take this as serious as we took COVID.”
Arthur emphasized that while Mpox is not new, public complacency could allow it to spread uncontrollably.
“Once affected, they also can pass it to others through physical contact,” he noted, highlighting that undetected transmission can quickly escalate.
“Once we allow it to spread over a certain magnitude it becomes very difficult to control and that is where fatality also begins to set in,” he warned.
The Ghana Health Service has moved quickly to contain the spread by intensifying surveillance and public health education, but Arthur believes more must be done.
“It is important that we create awareness,” he said, calling for renewed public commitment to hygiene practices and early symptom reporting. His message is clear: “Treat Mpox like COVID because the danger is real.”
