Divine Wisoba, a young mother in eastern Congo, sits slumped on the ground, her grief palpable as she pulls weeds from her baby daughter’s grave. One-month-old Maombi Katengey died from mpox in August, and the trauma of losing her daughter is still too raw for Wisoba to even attend the funeral. This heartbreaking scene is a stark reminder of the devastation unfolding in the heart of the world’s latest mpox outbreak.
The epicenter of this crisis is South Kivu province, where officials suspect over 6,000 people have contracted the disease. A new, highly contagious strain is spreading, primarily through skin-to-skin contact, including sexual contact. The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared this a global health emergency, but a lack of funds, vaccines, and awareness is making it difficult to contain the outbreak.
Mpox, which usually causes mild symptoms like fever and aches, can also manifest in severe cases with painful blisters on the face, hands, chest, and genitals. While the disease has been prevalent in Africa for years, a 2022 outbreak spread to over 70 countries, primarily affecting gay and bisexual men. However, health officials are alarmed by the rising number of cases among children, pregnant women, and other vulnerable groups in Africa, highlighting the disease’s indiscriminate nature.
Kamituga, a bustling gold mining town, is at the heart of the outbreak. Its transient population of miners, sex workers, and traders, constantly on the move, has created a perfect storm for the virus to spread. The first cases in Kamituga are believed to have originated in the local nightclub scene, and since the outbreak began a year ago, almost 1,000 people have been infected, including eight deaths, half of them children.
Despite the WHO’s hope that the outbreak could be stopped within six months with proper leadership and cooperation, the reality in Kamituga is bleak. The town’s general hospital, often operating at maximum capacity, sees an average of five new mpox cases each day. The number of new suspected cases in South Kivu has skyrocketed from about 12 per week in January to 600 in August, highlighting the rapid spread of the virus.
Compounding the problem is a lack of access to rural areas and a reluctance among many residents to seek medical attention. The transient nature of Kamituga also makes it difficult to track cases effectively. Furthermore, locals lack information about the disease. Wisoba herself contracted mpox before her daughter fell ill, but was unaware of the disease, attributing her symptoms to a common sexually transmitted infection. She only learned about mpox after her daughter developed lesions and eventually succumbed to the virus.
Local officials, hampered by limited resources, struggle to reach areas outside Kamituga to track suspected cases and inform residents. While they broadcast radio messages, the reach is limited. Community leader Kasindi Mwenyelwata goes door-to-door, educating people about mpox and its symptoms, but he lacks adequate resources, such as posters with images of patients, which he believes would be more effective than words alone.
ALIMA, one of the few aid organizations working on mpox in Kamituga, faces a dwindling budget that will run out by the year’s end, jeopardizing their efforts to reach an estimated 150,000 people in the region. The fear is that without sustained support, the outbreak will continue to spread, impacting the economy, deterring people from visiting the area, and potentially overwhelming available resources.
The most critical need is for vaccines, even if only available for adults under emergency approval in Congo. However, no vaccines have reached Kamituga, despite it being a priority area in South Kivu. The delays in vaccine delivery are due to a combination of factors, including the lack of paved roads, making transportation difficult during the rainy season. Even once vaccines arrive, it is unclear if supply will meet the demand, particularly for high-risk groups like healthcare workers, sex workers, miners, and motorcycle taxi drivers.
While the Congolese government has allocated over $190 million for its initial mpox response, including the purchase of 3 million vaccine doses, only 250,000 doses have arrived in the country, and only $10 million has been disbursed.
Most people with mild mpox cases recover within two weeks. However, lesions can become infected, and children and immunocompromised individuals are at higher risk of developing severe cases. Doctors can treat these complications by cleaning lesions and administering pain medication and antibiotics to prevent secondary infections like sepsis. However, even those who recover can get infected with the virus again.
The emergence of a new, highly transmissible variant adds another layer of complexity to the outbreak. A lack of resources and knowledge about this new strain makes it difficult to advise people on how to protect themselves. Experts acknowledge that the available information on mpox in eastern Congo and neighboring countries is limited. While the new variant is known to be more easily transmitted through sex, it’s unclear how long the virus remains contagious. Doctors recommend abstaining from sex for three months after recovery, but they admit that this timeframe is largely arbitrary, as research has not definitively determined the duration of the virus in the body.
Adding to the concern, doctors are seeing cases they cannot explain, such as pregnant women losing their babies. Nearly half of the 32 pregnant women infected since January have experienced miscarriages or stillbirths. Alice Neema, who lost her baby after being diagnosed with mpox, was unable to access timely medical care due to financial constraints.
The spread of the new strain and the lack of information have fueled fear in the community. Diego Nyago, who brought his two-year-old son, Emile, to the hospital for circumcision, was shocked when his son developed fever and lesions. He initially did not believe that children could catch mpox, but he is now grateful he sought medical attention. He warns that many children die quickly because their families are unaware of the disease.
The crisis in eastern Congo highlights the urgent need for resources and a better understanding of mpox to combat this growing threat. More funding is critical to support aid organizations, expand awareness campaigns, and ensure adequate access to vaccines. The lack of information surrounding the new strain necessitates further research and robust data collection to better understand the disease and develop effective prevention strategies. The lives of vulnerable populations, especially children, are at stake. The urgency of the situation demands immediate and sustained action to prevent further tragedy.
