As the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended on Monday, August 19, that countries affected by the mpox variant initiate vaccination plans in areas where cases have emerged, the hardest-hit nation, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), expressed hope to receive its first vaccine doses “next week.”
The country has reported 16,700 cases, with “just over 570 deaths,” since the beginning of the year, according to Health Minister Samuel-Roger Kamba at a press conference.
According to the government, the disease is increasingly affecting young people, and many children under the age of fifteen have been impacted.
The current outbreak is characterized by a more contagious and dangerous virus, with an estimated mortality rate of 3.6%.
Growing Concern in Africa
The surge of mpox in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which has also affected Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda, prompted the WHO to declare its highest level of international alert on Wednesday.
The Democratic Republic of Congo is the epicenter of the current outbreak, with the spread of a more dangerous strain of the virus raising increasing concern in Africa and beyond.
Outside of Africa, mpox cases have been diagnosed in Sweden, Pakistan, and the Philippines.
