WHO reports declining monkeypox cases in Congo

Kinshasa, Nov 15 The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the epicentre of the ongoing monkeypox epidemic, has seen a "downward trend" in weekly reported new cases over the past six weeks, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported on Friday.

As of November 10, 18 countries in the African region have reported a total of 11,321 confirmed monkeypox cases, including 53 deaths. The DRC, Burundi and Uganda account for about 96 per cent of the confirmed cases, according to the latest WHO report. The report also highlighted that many suspected cases, clinically compatible with monkeypox, have gone untested due to limited diagnostic capacity.

The situation in Africa shows active transmission in 13 of the 18 affected countries. However, five countries have managed to control the spread, as they have not reported new lab-confirmed cases in the past six weeks, the WHO said.

The expanding geographic spread and increasing case numbers suggest high levels of community transmission in countries like Uganda and Burundi, with a significant risk of further escalation, the WHO said, while smaller outbreaks in countries like Cote d'Ivoire and the Central African Republic remain more contained.

Having reported 8,662 confirmed cases, the DRC continues to face major challenges in surveillance and testing, with only eight national laboratories equipped for diagnostics, all operating with severe staffing constraints. Despite a downward trend in new weekly cases over the past six weeks, the WHO noted that delays in case confirmation and reporting could lead to an incomplete picture of the true extent of the outbreak, Xinhua news agency reported.

On Wednesday, DRC Health Minister Roger Kamba announced the launch of a new round of vaccinations. So far, about 51,000 people have been vaccinated, and the country has 200,000 doses of the vaccine on hand, with an additional 100,000 doses received on Thursday. The DRC aims to vaccinate a total of 2.5 million people.

The WHO has also expressed concern about the growing number of cases in Uganda, where monkeypox cases have been "rising exponentially." It said the situation underscores the need for a more decentralized response, with a focus on hotspots and active involvement from leaders at all levels.

In mid-August, the WHO declared monkeypox a public health emergency of international concern for the second time since 2022, following similar declarations by the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention which reported a 160 percent increase in new monkeypox cases in 2024 compared to the same period in 2023.

Source: IANS