Through radio jingles, posters, daily text messages and door-to-door visits, Sierra Leone’s public health officials are driving a messaging campaign aimed at preventing the spread of mpox. Experts say the effort has contributed to a sharp drop in new cases since they spiked in May.

The campaign and other public health measures helped bring new cases down from 600 per week in May to about 26 per week as of the end of September, according to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. The country’s fatality rate also declined sharply.

“The case fatality rate was the key challenge for Sierra Leone, so we really commend the country for the great job that has been done on that side,” said Yap Boum II, assistant manager of Africa CDC’s incident management team.

Dr. Ngashi Ngongo, h

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