A monkeypox epidemic has killed 548 people in the Democratic Republic of Congo since the beginning of the year and is now affecting all provinces, Health Minister Samuel Roger Kamba announced on Thursday.
• Read also: Monkeypox: WHO raises highest level of global alert
“According to the latest epidemiological report, our country has recorded 15,664 possible infections and 548 deaths since the beginning of the year,” he said in a video message sent to AFP.
As of August 3, the African Union health agency, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, had recorded 455 deaths and 14,479 cases in 25 of the 26 provinces in this country of about 100 million people.
“At the moment, all our provinces are affected by this virus,” Mr. Kamba added, citing a press release from the Ministry of Health.
The minister said that the provinces of South Kivu, North Kivu, Tshopo (east), Equateur, Nord-Ubangi, Tshopa, Mongala (north) and Sankuru (centre) are the most affected.
The World Health Organization on Wednesday raised its highest level of international alert over a resurgence of monkeypox cases in Africa.
Monkeypox was first discovered in humans in 1970 in what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire), with subtype 1 (a new mutation of which) spreading mainly to West and Central African countries. Patients are usually contaminated by infected animals.
Minister Kamba said that through international mobilization, “we are working to activate all the necessary mechanisms to identify and treat cases” free of charge.
