[ti:Mpox Cases in DRC Might Be Decreasing]
[al:Health & Lifestyle]
[ar:VOA]
[dt:2024-11-07]
[by:www.voase.cn]
[00:00.00]Some health officials say mpox cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo appear to be "stabilizing." 
[00:10.00]The observation is a possible sign that the epidemic might be declining.
[00:16.68]Mpox is also known as monkeypox. 
[00:21.20]The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the viral disease was first identified by scientists in 1958 when outbreaks of a "pox-like" disease appeared in monkeys. 
[00:40.98]Until recently, most human cases involved people in central and West Africa who had contact with infected animals.
[00:53.96]Last August, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared mpox in Africa a "public health emergency of international concern."
[01:06.61]In recent weeks, the WHO says the Democratic Republic of the Congo, or DRC, has reported about 200 to 300 confirmed mpox cases every week. 
[01:25.25]That number is down from nearly 400 cases a week in July. 
[01:32.14]A decrease has also been reported in Kamituga, where the new, more infectious variant of mpox first appeared.
[01:45.41]But the U.N. health agency said last week that only about half of suspected infections in the DRC were being tested.
[01:57.58]And the agency noted that the virus is continuing to spread in some parts of the country and elsewhere, including Uganda.
[02:11.47]While doctors are hopeful about the drop in infections in some parts of the DRC, they still do not know what kinds of physical contact are driving the outbreak.
[02:27.07]Health experts are also concerned about the low number of vaccines the Central African nation has received. 
[02:37.32]The WHO estimates that only 50,000 people have been vaccinated in the DRC, which has a population of about 110 million.
[02:52.31]Scientists also say there needs to be an urgent effort to vaccinate all of Africa to halt mpox's spread and avoid worse variants.
[03:06.65]"If we miss this opportunity, the likelihood of another significant outbreak increases substantially," said Dr. Zakary Rhissa, who heads operations in the DRC for the nonprofit group ALIMA.
[03:26.91]This year, there have been 43,000 suspected cases in Africa and more than 1,000 people have died, mostly in the DRC.
[03:40.58]Rhissa added, "We've seen how past outbreaks, such as the one in Nigeria in 2017, can lead to larger global events if not effectively contained." 
[03:55.70]The 2017 mpox epidemic affected more than 100 countries.
[04:04.21]Rhissa said the decline in cases in Kamituga - where mpox initially spread among sex workers and miners - is an opening to put more programs in place for vaccination, surveillance and education.
[04:25.17]Georgette Hamuli is an 18-year-old sex worker. 
[04:31.69]Hamuli said she did not know about mpox until vaccination teams arrived in Goma recently. 
[04:42.06]"The vaccine is also necessary," she said. "I think we're now protected."
[04:49.13]The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has estimated the DRC needs at least 3 million mpox vaccines to stop the virus, and another 7 million for the rest of Africa. 
[05:07.29]So far, the WHO and partners have provided 900,000 vaccines to nine African countries affected by mpox and expect 6 million vaccines to be available by the end of this year.
[05:28.05]Mpox epidemics in Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda are believed to have started in the DRC. 
[05:39.48]Several mpox cases affecting travelers have also been identified in Sweden, Thailand, Germany, India and Britain.
[05:52.53]Dr. Salim Abdool Karim is an infectious diseases expert at South Africa's University of KwaZulu-Natal. 
[06:06.09]He said mpox outbreaks usually rise and then disappear quickly because of how the virus spreads.
[06:16.51]This time, however, he said the virus continues to spread through sex and infected animals.
[06:26.63]"We're in new territory with mpox this time," he added.
[06:32.29]"We're never going to solve this until we vaccinate most of our people."
[06:40.08]I'm Mario Ritter, Jr.