Source: APO
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A WHO-supported house-to-house Mpox nationwide campaign in Sierra Leone, valued at a cost of USD 300,000, has significantly reduced the number of Mpox cases countrywide by 50% in one month. This successful campaign, named “Enhanced Integrated Mpox Response (EIMR),” conducted over four weeks from July 9 to August 3, 2025, was led by the Ministry of Health, the National Public Health Agency, and District Health Management Teams. WHO provided direct financial and technical assistance, including the deployment of nine technical officers and 35 national African Volunteers Health Corps – Strengthening and Utilizing Response Group for Emergencies (AVoHC-SURGE) responders to sixteen districts, marking a turning point in the fight against the outbreak.
The house to house campaign was aimed at strengthening district-level response systems by equipping Incident Management Teams with a multidisciplinary capacity to proactively detect cases, isolate them rapidly, and interrupt community transmission. The WHO teams collaborated with national and district teams to identify, investigate, and report unrecognized mpox cases; engaged with private and public health practitioners in surveillance and reporting; enhanced community awareness campaigns that promoted prevention and early detection; and identified and safely transferred suspected and confirmed cases to isolation and treatment centers. Other support that the teams provided includes timely sample collection, transportation, and feedback on laboratory results; as well as comprehensive contact tracing, vaccination, and follow-up for twenty-one days.
“This campaign demonstrated how strong coordination, community engagement, and partner collaboration can turn the tide of an outbreak. From frontline health workers going door to door, to district leaders mobilizing resources, and partners aligning efforts behind national priorities, the media playing their social cooperative responsibility, the response was a testament to resilience and solidarity,” said Dr George Ameh, WHO Representative, Sierra Leone.
“WHO is immensely grateful to our partners, FCDO, GAVI, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Denmark, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Netherlands, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Germany, who ensured that our teams had funds to reach the communities in the most remote places in Sierra Leone,” added Dr Ameh.
Before the launch of the campaign, Sierra Leone was reporting an average of seventeen new cases per day. But by the end of the campaign, the figure had dropped to seven, representing a 58% reduction. The WHO teams visited more than 250,000 households, reaching and educating over 600,000 people on mpox prevention and reporting. Seven hundred and four suspected cases were investigated for mpox, of these 395 (56%) tested positive and were transferred to treatment centers to reduce community transmission. More than 6,500 contacts were listed and vaccinated to prevent them from contracting the infection. Additionally, the teams reached more than 12,000 high-risk individuals with targeted education on how to prevent and manage diseases.
To achieve the highest outcomes from this campaign, WHO collaborated with several partners, including the World Food Program (WFP) for logistical support, Africa CDC for technical expertise, HEADA for community engagement and logistical support, US CDC for disease surveillance, UNICEF for vaccination support and community engagement, GOAL for community mobilization, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) for treatment, and Population Services International (PSI) for health education and logistical support. These partners, along with the local communities, contributed resources, expertise, and personnel, demonstrating the power of collaboration in public health emergencies.
While the results are encouraging, Sierra Leone wants to achieve zero cases of mpox. To consolidate progress, the Ministry of Health and its partners launched phase two of the Enhanced Integrated Mpox Response on August 11, 2025. This phase, which will also run for four weeks, will replicate the successful strategies of the initial response, ensuring sustained technical and financial support across all 16 districts with a focus on strengthening surveillance, improving case management, and enhancing community engagement to prevent future outbreaks.
As Sierra Leone enters the next phase of its mpox response, WHO will continue to provide technical expertise, logistical backing, and community engagement support. The experience serves as a reminder of the power of collective action in protecting public health. By building on the lessons learned from the initial phase, which include the importance of early detection, rapid response, and, most importantly, community involvement, Sierra Leone aims to end the Mpox transmission and safeguard communities nationwide.
Since January 10, 2025, when Sierra Leone confirmed its first case of mpox, and the disease declared a public health emergency of international concern by the World Health Organization in 2022, the outbreak spread rapidly across the country, affecting all 16 districts. By epidemiological week 19 (5-11 May 2025), more than 600 confirmed cases were reported in that single week, with Western Area Urban and Western Area Rural among the hardest-hit districts.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of World Health Organization – Sierra Leone.
