Mpox Cases in DRC Might Be Decreasing
2024-11-07
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1Some health officials say mpox cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo appear to be "stabilizing."
2The observation is a possible sign that the epidemic might be declining.
3Mpox is also known as monkeypox.
4The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the viral disease was first identified by scientists in 1958 when outbreaks of a "pox-like" disease appeared in monkeys.
5Until recently, most human cases involved people in central and West Africa who had contact with infected animals.
6Last August, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared mpox in Africa a "public health emergency of international concern."
7In recent weeks, the WHO says the Democratic Republic of the Congo, or DRC, has reported about 200 to 300 confirmed mpox cases every week.
8That number is down from nearly 400 cases a week in July.
9A decrease has also been reported in Kamituga, where the new, more infectious variant of mpox first appeared.
10But the U.N. health agency said last week that only about half of suspected infections in the DRC were being tested.
11And the agency noted that the virus is continuing to spread in some parts of the country and elsewhere, including Uganda.
12While doctors are hopeful about the drop in infections in some parts of the DRC, they still do not know what kinds of physical contact are driving the outbreak.
13Health experts are also concerned about the low number of vaccines the Central African nation has received.
14The WHO estimates that only 50,000 people have been vaccinated in the DRC, which has a population of about 110 million.
15Scientists also say there needs to be an urgent effort to vaccinate all of Africa to halt mpox's spread and avoid worse variants.
16"If we miss this opportunity, the likelihood of another significant outbreak increases substantially," said Dr. Zakary Rhissa, who heads operations in the DRC for the nonprofit group ALIMA.
17This year, there have been 43,000 suspected cases in Africa and more than 1,000 people have died, mostly in the DRC.
18Rhissa added, "We've seen how past outbreaks, such as the one in Nigeria in 2017, can lead to larger global events if not effectively contained."
19The 2017 mpox epidemic affected more than 100 countries.
20Rhissa said the decline in cases in Kamituga - where mpox initially spread among sex workers and miners - is an opening to put more programs in place for vaccination, surveillance and education.
21Georgette Hamuli is an 18-year-old sex worker.
22Hamuli said she did not know about mpox until vaccination teams arrived in Goma recently.
23"The vaccine is also necessary," she said. "I think we're now protected."
24The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has estimated the DRC needs at least 3 million mpox vaccines to stop the virus, and another 7 million for the rest of Africa.
25So far, the WHO and partners have provided 900,000 vaccines to nine African countries affected by mpox and expect 6 million vaccines to be available by the end of this year.
26Mpox epidemics in Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda are believed to have started in the DRC.
27Several mpox cases affecting travelers have also been identified in Sweden, Thailand, Germany, India and Britain.
28Dr. Salim Abdool Karim is an infectious diseases expert at South Africa's University of KwaZulu-Natal.
29He said mpox outbreaks usually rise and then disappear quickly because of how the virus spreads.
30This time, however, he said the virus continues to spread through sex and infected animals.
31"We're in new territory with mpox this time," he added.
32"We're never going to solve this until we vaccinate most of our people."
33I'm Mario Ritter, Jr.
1Some health officials say mpox cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo appear to be "stabilizing." The observation is a possible sign that the epidemic might be declining. 2Mpox is also known as monkeypox. The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the viral disease was first identified by scientists in 1958 when outbreaks of a "pox-like" disease appeared in monkeys. Until recently, most human cases involved people in central and West Africa who had contact with infected animals. 3Last August, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared mpox in Africa a "public health emergency of international concern." 4In recent weeks, the WHO says the Democratic Republic of the Congo, or DRC, has reported about 200 to 300 confirmed mpox cases every week. That number is down from nearly 400 cases a week in July. A decrease has also been reported in Kamituga, where the new, more infectious variant of mpox first appeared. 5But the U.N. health agency said last week that only about half of suspected infections in the DRC were being tested. And the agency noted that the virus is continuing to spread in some parts of the country and elsewhere, including Uganda. 6While doctors are hopeful about the drop in infections in some parts of the DRC, they still do not know what kinds of physical contact are driving the outbreak. Health experts are also concerned about the low number of vaccines the Central African nation has received. The WHO estimates that only 50,000 people have been vaccinated in the DRC, which has a population of about 110 million. 7Scientists also say there needs to be an urgent effort to vaccinate all of Africa to halt mpox's spread and avoid worse variants. 8"If we miss this opportunity, the likelihood of another significant outbreak increases substantially," said Dr. Zakary Rhissa, who heads operations in the DRC for the nonprofit group ALIMA. 9This year, there have been 43,000 suspected cases in Africa and more than 1,000 people have died, mostly in the DRC. 10Rhissa added, "We've seen how past outbreaks, such as the one in Nigeria in 2017, can lead to larger global events if not effectively contained." The 2017 mpox epidemic affected more than 100 countries. 11Rhissa said the decline in cases in Kamituga - where mpox initially spread among sex workers and miners - is an opening to put more programs in place for vaccination, surveillance and education. 12Georgette Hamuli is an 18-year-old sex worker. Hamuli said she did not know about mpox until vaccination teams arrived in Goma recently. "The vaccine is also necessary," she said. "I think we're now protected." 13The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has estimated the DRC needs at least 3 million mpox vaccines to stop the virus, and another 7 million for the rest of Africa. So far, the WHO and partners have provided 900,000 vaccines to nine African countries affected by mpox and expect 6 million vaccines to be available by the end of this year. 14Mpox epidemics in Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda are believed to have started in the DRC. Several mpox cases affecting travelers have also been identified in Sweden, Thailand, Germany, India and Britain. 15Dr. Salim Abdool Karim is an infectious diseases expert at South Africa's University of KwaZulu-Natal. He said mpox outbreaks usually rise and then disappear quickly because of how the virus spreads. This time, however, he said the virus continues to spread through sex and infected animals. 16"We're in new territory with mpox this time," he added. "We're never going to solve this until we vaccinate most of our people." 17I'm Mario Ritter, Jr. 18Maria Cheng and Ruth Alonga reported this story for the Associated Press. Hai Do adapted it for VOA Learning English. 19________________________________________________ 20Words in This Story 21stabilize-v. to not get worse; to even out or establish a normal level 22epidemic -n. when an infectious disease spreads quickly over a large area 23variant -n. a version of an infectious agent that is a little but different from the earlier one 24substantially -adv. to a large degree 25surveillance -n. closely observing something over a period to see if something bad is happening or going to happen 26We want to hear from you. 27Our comment policy is here.