The DRC is undoubtedly experiencing the most serious Monkeypox epidemic ever known to date, with cases in almost all provinces. To date, indicates Doctor Cris Kacita, twenty-four (24) of the twenty-six (26) provinces are affected, the last four of which are: Kongo Central, North Kivu, Lualaba and Kinshasa – the only one to have experienced cases last year -.
“We cannot control the movements of populations who take whaling boats in particular. We are observing significant human contamination, particularly through sexual relations,” explains Dr Cris Kacita, in charge of operations in the Monkeypox incident management system at the National Program to Combat Monkeypox and Viral Hemorrhagic Fevers (PNLMPOX-FHV) .
If last year the country experienced 14,000 cases for 600 deaths, by mid-June 2024, the DRC already had “around 8,600 cases with 410 deaths”. “At the rate things are going, we risk becoming a source of cases for other countries,” warns the doctor.
In newly affected provinces such as North Kivu, three cases were recorded in Goma, one in the territory of Nyiragongo, says Dr Cris Kacita, who “fears a rapid progression of the epidemic with promiscuity and war-displaced people ”.
In Kinshasa, for this year, he notes, “there were three cases coming from the Mushi health zone in the province of Mai-Ndombe, there was one who escaped and returned to Mushi. The second is almost cured. The third is waiting for the result but is getting better”.
According to Cris Kacita, $84 million is needed to organize the response to this epidemic in the priority provinces and those most at risk. “We were only able to raise $8 million,” he said, while specifying that the response plan was launched today in the province of Equateur with the WHO.
