Sierra Leone declares emergency after confirming 2nd mpox case in 4 days

By: Kemo Cham And Wilson Mcmakin, The Associated Press Posted:

Advertisement

Advertise with us

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Sierra Leone declared a state of emergency Monday after the country reported its second case of mpox in less than four days, health authorities said.

Read this article for free:


or

Already have an account? Log in here »

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Subscribe and receive a limited-edition Free Press branded hat or tote.

Digital Subscription

One year of digital access for only $205*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles

*First annual payment billed as $205.00 + GST for one year. This annual subscription will automatically renew at $233.00 + GST every 52 weeks (10% off the regular annual price of $259.35). Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional

$1 for the first 4 weeks*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles
Start now

*Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 13/01/2025 (639 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Sierra Leone declared a state of emergency Monday after the country reported its second case of mpox in less than four days, health authorities said.

Neither case had known recent contact with infected animals or other sick individuals, the health ministry said. Only the first case involved recent travel, limited to the airport town of Lungi in the northern Port Loko District between Dec. 26 and Jan. 6th. Both patients are receiving treatment at a hospital in the capital, Freetown.

Mpox, also known as monkeypox, was first identified by scientists in 1958 when outbreaks of a “pox-like” disease in monkeys occurred. Until recently, most human cases were seen in people in central and West Africa who had close contact with infected animals.

In 2022, the virus was confirmed to spread via sex for the first time and triggered outbreaks in more than 70 countries across the world that had not previously reported mpox. The Congo has borne the brunt of the epidemic, with a vast majority of the roughly 43,000 suspected cases and 1,000 deaths in Africa this year.

Sierra Leone was previously the epicenter of the 2014 Ebola outbreak, the deadliest in history. The outbreak, primarily concentrated in West Africa, affected Sierra Leone the most, with nearly 4,000 deaths out of the more than 11,000 recorded globally. The country also lost 7% of its healthcare workforce to the outbreak.

____

Follow AP’s Africa coverage at: https://apnews.com/hub/africa

Advertisement Advertise With Us

Report Error Submit a Tip

Advertisement

Learn more about Winnipeg Free Press Advertising solutions

More Stories

The Canadian Press files Alberta lawyer Jeffrey Rath is the founder of the Alberta Prosperity Society and one of the leaders of the separatist movement.

Every few years, a sword over the baby

Hersh Seth 5 minute read Preview

Every few years, a sword over the baby

Hersh Seth 5 minute read 2:00 AM CDT

On Oct. 19, people in Alberta will answer 10 referendum questions. Nine are about things such as immigration, voter ID, judges and the Senate. The other asks if Alberta should remain in Canada or begin the legal steps toward a binding vote on leaving.

I want to share a perspective, as a patriotic Canadian, which I feel is lacking from the discourse.

Many of us who read those nine complaints can understand where Alberta is coming from. Ottawa kept control of the Prairies’ Crown lands and resources until 1930, allowing the East to grow at the West’s expense. The national energy program of the 1970s is still a sore spot west of Kenora, nearly 50 years later. Ontario and Quebec have almost 60 per cent of the seats in the House of Commons, so you can win everywhere from the Lakehead to the Pacific and still not change anything. Decisions are made about us, not with us. That frustration is real and being a Manitoban shouldn’t mean having to be Ottawa’s lawyer in this case. We are the original West, born in 1870 from Métis resistance to the same kind of treatment Alberta is protesting now.

So yes, we can understand how truly frustrated they are with the state of things in this country. But what bothers us even more is seeing someone threaten our children’s future every few years and call it leadership in their province.

Read
2:00 AM CDT

Time to intervene on hubby and therapy ‘buddy’

Maureen Scurfield 4 minute read 2:00 AM CDT

DEAR MISS LONELYHEARTS: My husband has been going to a therapy group to work through some trauma in his past. He seems almost high when he comes home — always in too good a mood and plays his guitar for hours. He won’t come to bed with me either and doesn’t want to make love those nights.

I just found out from a female friend who also goes to this therapy group that one of my man’s exes turns out to be in this same group. She’s seen them at the café where some group members go after meetings for coffee. They usually sit as a group, she says, but my husband and this woman have started breaking off from the main crew for private talks at another table.

When I asked my man about her, he was indignant. He said, “I come home to you, don’t I? Isn’t that enough?” Now he claims he’s helping his ex talk through her trauma. That may be so, but he seems way too happy and smug when he finally comes home.

This ex was the first girl he ever had sex with. I know exactly what she meant to him — until she dropped him on his head. So what can I do? I can’t just ignore it and let it go. He’s my husband till death do us part, right?

Letters, Oct. 14

7 minute read 2:01 AM CDT

Where’s the vision?

Who is Winnipeg’s great visionary leader?

This year, a number of candidates have entered Winnipeg’s mayoral race. Important issues are being debated, including public safety, transportation and taxes. Yet, amid the campaigning and political mudslinging, I find myself asking a much bigger question: Who has a compelling vision for what Winnipeg could become?

So far, I have yet to hear it.

MELISSA MARTIN / FREE PRESS As part of his Forever Canadian campaign, former Alberta deputy premier Thomas Lukaszuk has driven the Unity Bus all over the province to rally support to stay in Canada.

Riding the Unity Bus to rally support for Canada in Alberta

Melissa Martin 8 minute read Preview

Riding the Unity Bus to rally support for Canada in Alberta

Melissa Martin 8 minute read Monday, Oct. 12, 2026

It’s a chilly Thanksgiving Monday morning on the eastern edge of Alberta. A sharp wind nips at exposed skin and drab grey clouds hang low in the sky. Such weather does not encourage high spirits, but Unity Bus volunteers can’t afford to let theirs falter: in just one week, on Oct. 19, Albertans will vote on a historic question on whether to remain in Canada.

Read
Monday, Oct. 12, 2026

Creatures’ comfort key to coping with loss

Maureen Scurfield 4 minute read Yesterday at 2:00 AM CDT

DEAR MISS LONELYHEARTS: Not long ago I lost my husband to illness at far too young an age. My spouse was a great guy, but I do want another one.

I just want to pass on a little tip. When my husband was dying, he encouraged me to bring home warm and loving pets to our acreage just outside the city. They were my saviours when my husband was ill.

Since he has died, they continue to help me keep warm, happy and affectionate. They were my greatest comfort in the later stages when my man was in too much pain to hold me or be held. The cats and the dog would welcome me home from the hospital and transfer their cuddling to me, giving me all the attention I needed, and I always felt so loved.

I have been dating a fair bit for a fairly recent widow because I’m ready to be held and loved, and I feel my husband and the pets saying, “Way to go.”

Greg Rickford, Minister of Indigenous Affairs and First Nations Economic Reconciliation of Ontario speaks at a press conference in Toronto on Thursday, April 17, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Arlyn McAdorey

Ontario to move northwest regions to permanent daylight time

Liam Casey, The Canadian Press 3 minute read Preview

Ontario to move northwest regions to permanent daylight time

Liam Casey, The Canadian Press 3 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 11:29 AM CDT

TORONTO - Ontario is set to move parts of the province's northwest region to permanent daylight time in order to align with Manitoba, Indigenous Affairs Minister Greg Rickford told The Canadian Press.

Rickford said there is overwhelming consensus among municipalities, First Nations and businesses to make the time change permanent.

The province intends to make a regulatory change in the Time Act on Nov. 1 to allow regions west of the 90th meridian to align with Manitoba, he said.

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew announced last month the province would stop twice-annual clock changes and stay on daylight time year-round in the central time zone, leaving it one hour ahead of the other Prairie provinces rather than aligned with them.

Read
Updated: Yesterday at 11:29 AM CDT