In the midst of a growing humanitarian crisis in eastern Congo, the spread of Mpox (formerly known as monkeypox) has become a significant public health concern, prompting the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare it a global health emergency. The crisis is exacerbated by the dire conditions in overcrowded displacement camps, where millions of people are cut off from basic medical care and information.
Sarah Bagheni, a resident of the Bulengo displacement camp in eastern Congo, began experiencing a headache, fever, and itchy skin lesions. Unaware that her symptoms could be caused by Mpox, she had no idea where to seek medical help. Her story is not unique; many in the region are similarly unaware of the disease and the threat it poses.
Eastern Congo, which has seen more than 96% of the world’s Mpox cases this year, is now the epicenter of multiple outbreaks in Africa. The WHO declared the disease a global health emergency after scientists identified a new and potentially more infectious variant of the virus in the region. This declaration came just a day before Sweden reported its first case of the new strain, underscoring the urgency of the situation.
Despite the severity of the outbreak, many of the most vulnerable people in Congo remain unaware of Mpox or the danger it represents. “We know nothing about this,” said Habumuremyiza Hire, Bagheni’s husband. “I watch her condition helplessly because I don’t know what to do. We continue to share the same room.”
The humanitarian crisis in eastern Congo, driven by years of conflict between rebel groups and Congolese army forces, has led to the displacement of over 5.5 million people, with many forced into overcrowded refugee camps around Goma. The conditions in these camps are dire, with minimal access to medical care. Mahoro Faustin, who manages the Bulengo camp, reported that symptoms like fever, body aches, and chills began appearing among camp residents about three months ago. However, due to a lack of testing and public health campaigns, the number of Mpox cases remains unknown.
“If nothing is done, we will all be infected here, or maybe we are already all infected,” Faustin said, expressing his concern over the potential spread of the virus in the overcrowded camp.
The situation is further complicated by the fact that many cases are coming from displacement camps. Dr. Pierre Olivier Ngadjole, health advisor for Medair, an international aid organization, noted that 70% of the new Mpox cases in the Goma area over the past two months were from these camps. The youngest case involved a one-month-old baby, while the oldest patient was 90 years old.
Mpox can cause severe lesions on the face, hands, arms, chest, and genitals, and while it originally spread from animals to humans, it now transmits through close physical contact, including sexual activity. For many in eastern Congo, however, the possibility of getting a diagnosis or treatment is slim, particularly for those like Bagheni, who already struggles with mobility after having both legs amputated.
Dr. Chris Beyrer, director of Duke University’s Global Health Institute, highlighted the numerous challenges in stopping the Mpox outbreak in Congo, including ongoing conflict, illicit mining, transient populations, and entrenched poverty. He criticized the global response, stating that the WHO’s emergency declaration was “late in coming,” as the disease has been spreading in Congo and Nigeria since 2017. Despite the availability of effective vaccines and treatments, access to these resources remains severely limited in places like eastern Congo.
In 2022, Mpox outbreaks occurred in over 70 countries, leading the WHO to declare an emergency that was largely contained in wealthy countries through vaccination and treatment efforts. However, few doses of the vaccine have been made available in Africa, where the outbreak continues to worsen. The new strain, first detected this year in a mining town in eastern Congo, has now spread to 13 African countries, with four of them—Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda—recording cases for the first time.
Experts like Salim Abdool Karim, chair of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s emergency committee, are particularly concerned by the fact that the current outbreak disproportionately affects young people. Children under 15 account for 70% of Mpox cases and 85% of deaths in Congo.
Despite the widespread impact of the disease, Congo has yet to receive any vaccine doses. Health Minister Samuel-Roger Kamba has called for vigilance among the population, while local health facilities, like Goma’s North Kivu provincial hospital, struggle with a lack of drugs and established treatments. Dr. Rachel Maguru, who heads the hospital’s multi-epidemic center, warned that a larger outbreak in the already overburdened city would be “terrible.”
The humanitarian crisis in eastern Congo, compounded by the spread of Mpox, presents a complex and urgent challenge. With millions of displaced people facing overcrowded living conditions, inadequate medical care, and the constant threat of other diseases, the situation demands immediate international attention and action.
Source: https://abcnews.go.com
