Madagascar Confirms First Mpox Fatality

(MENAFN) Madagascar has reported its first fatality linked to mpox, the death of a 3-year-old girl from the eastern port city of Toamasina, who passed away on Saturday after a harrowing series of treatment delays and care refusals, health officials confirmed.

Health Ministry spokesperson Mamy Randria told reporters Monday that the child had initially been hospitalized before her family requested a transfer to a public facility, where she ultimately died.

"Skin rashes were observed on her body. Doctors also noted that the little girl was already very weakened when she arrived at the hospital," Randria said.

The child's parents reported that her illness began following a sprained ankle, after which the family first turned to traditional healers before encountering repeated obstacles at multiple hospitals — including delays and outright refusals of care. Despite strong objections from the girl's relatives, the Health Ministry confirmed that laboratory tests posthumously verified she had been infected with mpox.

Madagascar first reported its initial cluster of five mpox cases on December 30 of last year, all detected in Mahajanga, located in the Boeny region of western Madagascar. Since that outbreak began, the island nation has recorded 457 confirmed cases and 321 recoveries — figures that now carry the additional weight of the country's first confirmed death.

The case raises urgent questions about healthcare accessibility and response times in Madagascar, where barriers to timely medical treatment appear to have played a critical role in the young girl's fate.

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