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The authorities of the Democratic Republic of the Congo are struggling to contain the most serious epidemic of monkeypox, after one of the most infectious mutations of the virus appeared in a mining town.
Since January, the authorities have registered a total of 4,500 suspected cases of monkeypox and 300 deaths, which, according to data from the World Health Organization (WHO), is three times the number recorded in the same period of the previous year. A health emergency was recently declared in the country due to the renewed outbreak of the epidemic.
In the mining town of Kamituga, the number of people hospitalized for monkeypox increased between October and January, which indicates the emergence of a new variant of the epidemic. People living in the mining town do not come into contact with monkeys that naturally carry the disease.
“We have entered a new infection phase of monkeypox”
– announced the author of the study written on the appearance of the new variant, who works at the Congolese National Biomedical Research Institute. He added that the death rate of those infected is lower compared to the previous epidemic.
In its monkeypox report released this week, the WHO reported that the emergence of a new variant of the disease necessitates the introduction of a new testing strategy to detect mutations.
In November 2022, the WHO first confirmed the sexual transmission of monkeypox in the Congo. The state of emergency was announced by the organization on July 23, 2022, after the disease, previously only known in a few African countries, was suddenly detected in several countries.
Although in the West it was possible to control the spread of monkeypox with vaccinations and medical treatments, these possibilities were not given in the Congo.
After Covid, is the new epidemic here?
The UN World Health Organization (WHO) is concerned. At a press conference on Thursday, it was stated that new variants of H5N1 bird flu are causing an increasing number of infections.
The country’s health minister has authorized monkeypox vaccinations in high-risk provinces, and negotiations are currently underway with donor countries, including Japan, to procure the vaccines.
“As soon as sufficient vaccine is available, vaccinations will be carried out as part of the response to the outbreak”
– promised Kacita Osako, coordinator of the Congolese committee established to control monkeypox.
(MTI)
