Democratic Republic of Congo launches ongoing vaccination campaign on Saturday mpox outbreakThree days later than initially planned. The vaccines were due to be administered on Wednesday, however, health officials speaking to AFP said that would not happen.

Health Minister Samuel-Roger Kamba confirmed the start date on Friday. “We are starting the vaccination campaign tomorrow, October 5,” Kamba told a news conference in the DRC capital Kinshasa.

Vaccinations will be given in Goma, the provincial capital of North Kivu in eastern DRC, the area most affected by the current pandemic. The central African country has received 265,000 vaccine doses, including donations from the United States and the European Union. “This will not be a mass vaccination campaign… the strategy is to vaccinate those most at risk,” Kamba said. He also said it was aimed at targeting people with existing health conditions and people like healthcare workers.

The number of vaccine doses the DRC currently has is “already enough to start rolling out in the most affected areas”, he said. “We are still waiting,” the minister said.

Kamba said the country has recorded between 30,000 and 31,000 cases since the beginning of the year mpox cases, as well as 988 deaths. He said 70 percent of the deaths were among people under the age of five, adding that “children are the most affected by this virus”.

The World Health Organization (WHO) approved the use of the first diagnostic test for mpox. This test allows the detection of the virus from swabs taken from human wounds. “WHO actually announced a total of about 4,500 tests (for the DRC),” Kamba said. He did not tell the date of the test.

Mumps, also known as monkeypox, is a viral disease caused by the monkeypox virus. It is a zoonotic disease and hence can spread from animals to humans. It was first discovered in monkeys and hence, it was first named monkeypox. MPox usually causes a painful rash, enlarged lymph nodes, and fever.

Although most people recover from this condition, some people may become very ill. This virus spreads from one person to another through touch, kissing or sex. However, it is usually spread from animals while hunting, skinning, or cooking them. It can also be spread through contaminated bedsheets, clothing or needles and from infected pregnant mothers to their unborn babies.

There are two types of MPOX; Clade I and Clade II. Experts say the Clade I type of mpox virus has a mortality rate of about 10%. Infections in the 2022–2023 outbreak were from clade II, or more specifically, clade IIb. Infection with clade IIb is rarely fatal. More than 99% of people with this type of disease have a chance of survival.

However, clade I infection can be fatal. Clade I MPOX is causing frequent outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and several other African countries.

Recently, two separate studies showed that the efficacy of the Bavarian Nordic vaccine against the deadly infectious disease wanes “to an unknown level” over 6–12 months. The vaccine, which is given as a 2-dose injection given 4 weeks apart, is the first vaccine against mpox to be prequalified by the World Health Organization (WHO).

symptoms of mpox

Here, take a look at some of the common symptoms of mpox.

• rash
• Fever
• sore throat
• Headache
• muscle pain
• back pain
• low energy
• Swollen lymph nodes.

For some people, the first symptom of mumps is a rash, while others may first have fever, muscle aches, or a sore throat.

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