The African Union’s public health chief on Thursday issued a warning on expanding mpox outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo, as conflicts force patients to flee.
Jean Kaseya, head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, said that more than 400 patients have fled the mpox treatment centres in the eastern Congolese province of South Kivu.
“We don’t know where these people are and we are very concerned,” Kaseya disclosure this at the health agency’s weekly briefing.
Kaseya added that since the end of January, the rebel militia M23 has advanced in eastern Congo and captured two provincial capitals, following fierce battles with the Congolese army.
Since then, reported cases have declined, but this is mainly due to regional instability, the mass displacement of hundreds of thousands, and the collapse of testing facilities for suspected cases.
South Kivu is considered one of the focal points of mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, in the Central African country particularly affected by the virus outbreak.
The potentially more dangerous variant of the disease is also widespread here.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the highest alert level last August due to the mpox outbreaks in Africa and the new, potentially more dangerous variant.
This is intended to mobilise authorities around the world to be more vigilant.
Since the beginning of the year, almost 19,000 suspected cases of mpox have been reported in 13 countries across the African continent.
