DR Congo Faces Severe Mpox Outbreak with 35 New Deaths Reported.

A healthcare worker is helping a smallpox patient at a treatment center in Munigi, eastern Congo, on Monday, August 19, 2024. Next week, the Democratic Republic of Congo will receive the first vaccine doses from the United States to deal with its smallpox outbreak. This announcement comes just days after the World Health Organization declared smallpox outbreaks in Africa a global emergency. Courtesy image.

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has recently reported 35 additional deaths due to Mpox, a disease caused by the monkeypox virus. This latest update raises the total number of deaths from Mpox since January to over 600, according to a report by the Ministry of Health released on Wednesday.

The outbreak has intensified across the country, with Mpox now reported in nearly all regions of the DRC. The Minister for Public Health, Dr. Roger Kamba, revealed that the disease has led to 1,372 new suspected cases and 206 confirmed cases in recent updates. The death toll has surpassed the number of fatalities reported in the previous year, which was 600.

The epidemiological report highlights a dramatic increase in both suspected and confirmed cases of Mpox. As of now, the cumulative number of suspected cases has reached 17,801. The disease has spread across almost all of DRC’s 26 provinces, marking a significant escalation in the outbreak.

This surge in cases and deaths underscores the urgent need for effective response measures to control the spread of Mpox and address the crisis in the DRC.