Many deaths

Mpox increasingly “out of control” in parts of Africa

The Democratic Republic of Congo in particular is suffering from Mpox.(Bild: AFP/Glody MURHABAZI)

In Rwanda, the first vaccinations against Mpox on the African continent were given on Tuesday. In the neighboring country, the Democratic Republic of Congo, however, the situation is increasingly getting "out of control". 

Around 300 high-risk patients on the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo have been vaccinated, according to the African Union (AU) Disease Control Center. Rwanda's neighbor is the country most affected by the virus: between January and August, almost 22,000 suspected cases were counted here and more than 700 deaths were linked to Mpox.

First vaccination from October
Within a week, almost 3,000 new suspected cases, 374 confirmed cases and 14 deaths were registered in the country. According to the disease control center, vaccinations in the Democratic Republic of Congo are to begin "in the first week of October". Jean Kaseya, Director of the African health authority CDC Africa, explained in his weekly briefing on Thursday: "Mpox in Africa is not under control."

The Democratic Republic of Congo has so far received around 200,000 vaccine doses from the EU and another 50,000 from the USA. The country has around 100 million inhabitants. In Africa, 15 countries are known to be affected by the virus, including Burundi, Kenya and Uganda. The WHO declared a public health emergency of international concern in mid-August.