Mpox Cases in Ghana Rise to 108 — And It's Hitting Closer Than You Think
A few years ago, I stumbled into a situation I never saw coming — I woke up with a weird rash on my arm, convinced it was just an allergic reaction. Nothing major. Maybe laundry detergent? I Googled (bad idea) and was suddenly spiraling through an internet rabbit hole of terrifying skin diseases. It wasn’t anything serious, thankfully. But ever since, I’ve had this weird sensitivity to news about outbreaks. So when I saw Mpox cases in Ghana have climbed to 108… yeah, it made me pause.
Mpox — or monkeypox, as most people still know it — used to sound like one of those faraway problems. You’d hear about it in global health reports or a short news segment before switching to your favorite Netflix show. But 108 cases? That’s not just numbers on a screen anymore. That’s real people. People like you and me. People in Accra, Tamale, Kumasi — maybe even someone you shared trotro space with last week.
And honestly, I had to remind myself what Mpox even is. It's a viral disease — kinda like a cousin of smallpox — that spreads through close contact. Skin-to-skin, shared items, droplets from coughing. The usual suspects. Symptoms? Fever, chills, swollen lymph nodes, and then those distinctive rashes or sores. The thing is, it’s not always deadly, but it can be dangerous, especially for folks with weaker immune systems.
Here’s the part that hits hardest: a good chunk of these 108 cases aren’t being reported right away. Some people don’t even go to the hospital — they just hope it’ll pass. And hey, I get it. Healthcare access isn’t always easy, and sometimes you’re more worried about your next paycheck than a strange bump on your skin. But that silence? It’s what lets outbreaks spread.
In my experience (and I’ve seen this happen with COVID, cholera, even malaria), it’s rarely about the virus itself at first. It’s about the ripple effect. The fear. The misinformation. The stigma. People start whispering. Social media fills with rumors — “It’s a punishment,” or “Only certain people get it,” or “If you go to the clinic, they’ll quarantine you forever.” And before you know it, folks are suffering quietly, afraid to speak up.
I might be wrong, but I don’t think it has to be this way.
We’ve got a shot — literally and figuratively — to stop this from getting worse. There is a vaccine. There are ways to treat it. And most importantly, we can talk about it without freaking out or pointing fingers. Mpox doesn’t care who you are. It spreads when we stop looking out for each other.
So here’s a little challenge I’ve given myself: stay curious, stay compassionate. Ask questions. Share facts. And if someone tells me they’re feeling off or worried about a rash, I won’t brush it off. I’ll listen.
What if that small shift — that tiny moment of kindness — is what actually turns things around?
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