DR Congo detects at least 25 mpox cases in Goma, mainly in displacement
camps
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[July 11, 2024]
PARIS (Reuters) - At least 25 cases of a dangerous new strain of
mpox spreading through the Democratic Republic of Congo have been
detected in the eastern city of Goma, mostly in camps housing people
fleeing a surrounding conflict, health authorities said on Wednesday.
Congo has seen 20,000 cases and more than 1,000 deaths from mpox, mainly
among children, since the start of 2023. Over 11,000 cases, including
443 deaths, have been reported so far this year.
Authorities recently approved the use of vaccines to tackle the upsurge,
but none are currently available outside of clinical trials in the
country.
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The head of the national response team against the mpox epidemic, Cris
Kacita, said in an interview that most of the new reported cases were in
displaced people camps.
He said cases were infected with a new strain of the virus that is
spreading in South Kivu province. Goma is the capital and largest city
of the neighbouring North Kivu province.
The World Heath Organization (WHO) and scientists raised the alarm last
month about the mpox situation in Congo, including the spread of a new
strain of mpox spreading in South Kivu.
Mpox has been endemic in Congo for decades but a new variant of the
clade I of the virus emerged last year. It is a viral infection that
spreads through close contact, causing flu-like symptoms and pus-filled
lesions. Most cases are mild but it can kill.
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![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2024/Jul/11/images/ads/current/longview_lda_HEROES_2024.png) A different, less severe form of
mpox - clade IIb - spread globally in 2022, largely through sexual
contact among men who have sex with men. This prompted the WHO to
declare a public health emergency that has now ended, although there
are still cases and the agency has said mpox remains a public health
threat.
"The national biomedical research institute in Goma
has sequenced the virus and this proves that the virus has been
circulating for a long time in the city of Goma", Kacita said.
"The risk here is the promiscuity in the camps and the speed with
which the epidemic is spreading", he warned.
Hundreds of thousands of people who fled conflict in Congo's
insurgent-hit east are staying in overcrowded camps in and around
Goma.
The number of displaced has increased since a rebel group known as
the M23 launched a major offensive in 2022, prompting national and
regional military responses that have struggled to stem the
militia's advance.
(Reporting by Sonia Rolley; Editing by Sofia Christensen, Jennifer
Rigby ; Editing by Sandra Maler)
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