Of all recorded cases, around 15,000 cases of monkeypox occur in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Photo: REUTERS.
The monkeypox epidemic is spreading in Africa, with more than 17,000 cases reported across the continent. In fact, there may be more: in many remote areas there are simply no doctors.
About 15,000 of all registered cases are in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). It is one of the most populous countries in Africa, with more than 100 million inhabitants. The website kp.ru called the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kinshasa, to find out the latest news about monkeypox.
“On August 16, due to the epidemic, the local government declared a state of emergency,” said Russian businessman Alexander Randentans, who lives in Congo. — The country’s Minister of Health, Samuel Roger Camba, called on the population to observe preventive measures, wash their hands regularly with soap and, if there is no soap, clean them with ashes, because in rural areas and even in some urban areas, the most popular cooking method is fire or a wood stove.
Other recommendations: it is not advisable to eat the meat of wild monkeys, as well as rodents and animals found dead in the jungle; all of these can be sources of infection. It is forbidden to touch dead animals (the most common method of infection with mpox is contact).
— The government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo has announced the immediate allocation of up to 10 million dollars to combat the epidemic. In addition, according to its estimates, the Republic currently needs 3.5 million doses of vaccines,” the source said.
This amount of medicine will cost approximately 600 million dollars, which is unlikely to be available in a poor country. Moreover, in the Democratic Republic of Congo alone, the number of deaths from mox last year was about 500 people.
At the same time, according to sources in Kinshasa, a complete lockdown and confinement as during the Covid-19 pandemic are still far away: after all, unlike the coronavirus, mpox is hardly transmitted by airborne droplets.
Meanwhile, representatives of the Congolese diaspora in Moscow have sent a letter to the Russian authorities calling for humanitarian and medical assistance to the Democratic Republic of Congo: “Millions of people are under threat. We appeal to the Russian authorities: help us save lives by providing mpox vaccines to the Democratic Republic of Congo. These vaccines are necessary to protect our compatriots in the most affected areas,” says the document signed by the president of the Congolese diaspora in the Russian Federation, Patrick Boyang.
