Mpox outbreak in DR Congo: What to know – Doctors Without Borders (MSF-USA)

Since mid-June, one of our teams has been supporting Uvira health zone in South Kivu, and assisting the medical management of severe cases through an isolation center at the Uvira General Referral Hospital, as well as monitoring simple and moderate cases on an outpatient basis and isolating suspected cases. Our teams are training medical staff on medical management and are also involved in infection control and raising awareness in communities. Over the last seven weeks in Uvira, MSF has treated more than 600 patients, including 217 serious cases. We are also providing hospitals with kits for treatment and for taking samples of the disease. In Minova, our teams set up an isolation center at the general reference hospital.

In Goma, North Kivu, we have launched surveillance and awareness-raising activities in camps for displaced people where we are present. We are strengthening the capacity of health structures to manage triage, isolation, and the treatment of patients presenting symptoms of mpox.

In the northwest of DRC, two other interventions have been launched: one in the Bikoro health zone in Equateur and the other in the Budjala health zone in South-Ubangi. This time, operations will be long-term, lasting several months. We also aim to train medical staff in medical and psychological care and step up epidemiological surveillance and infection prevention and control, including community awareness-raisingparticularly for people who are sometimes harder to reach, such as people with disabilities. In Budjala, more than 500 patients were treated with our support between mid-June and mid-July. In Equateur, we will be conducting operational research with the health authorities to better understand the dynamics of the virus and combat the disease.

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Mpox outbreak in DR Congo: What to know - Doctors Without Borders (MSF-USA)