Ethiopia Reports First Mpox Cases Involving Infant and Mother Near Kenyan Border

Ethiopian health officials announced the country’s first confirmed mpox infections on Sunday, diagnosing a 21-day-old baby and the child’s mother in Moyale, a strategic border town near Kenya and Somalia, Anadolu Agency reported.

Authorities linked the cases to cross-border exposure, noting the infant’s father had recently traveled from a region with prior mpox activity. Moyale—a bustling trade corridor—is now under heightened surveillance, with quarantines imposed on close contacts of the infected family.

A joint statement by the Ministry of Health and Ethiopian Public Health Institute emphasized that while the infection’s origin is still being probed, early evidence points to transnational transmission. Rapid-response teams are actively tracing contacts and reinforcing containment measures, especially in border zones.

Though Ethiopia had avoided confirmed cases until now, the nation has maintained vigilance since the WHO’s 2022 declaration of mpox as a global health emergency.