The Africa Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is facing a worsening mpox epidemic as testing rates drop and conflict disrupts healthcare services.

Africa CDC said a new variant has also emerged, raising fresh concerns.

Ngashi Ngongo, chief of staff at Africa CDC, shared this update during a weekly webinar briefing on the outbreak on Friday.

Mr Ngongo disclosed that only 17 per cent of suspected mpox cases in the DRC had been tested in the past week, marking a nearly 10 per cent decline.

He attributed this drop to the ongoing conflict and the withdrawal of U.S. aid, which previously funded the transportation of specimens.

“With the U.S. aid freeze, there is no money for the transportation of specimens,” he said, highlighting how financial constraints were crippling surveillance efforts.

“The situation is further compounded by the limited reporting of cases. Only seven out of the DRC’s 26 provinces are currently providing data on mpox, suggesting potential underreporting of infections.

“To counteract this, Africa CDC is assisting the country in decentralising laboratory services, increasing the number of testing facilities from just two in July 2023 to 21 by February 2024.

“However, the target is 56 laboratories to ensure all health zones have access to testing,” he said.

He said the ongoing conflict in eastern DRC has significantly impacted efforts to contain the epidemic.

“More than two million people are currently displaced, and humanitarian groups have called for a humanitarian corridor to restore healthcare services, particularly in North and South Kivu, where the M23 rebels have taken over key areas,” he added.

He warned that without urgent intervention, the combination of inadequate testing and poor healthcare access could accelerate the spread of the virus.

In a positive development, Mr Ngongo said more than 300,000 people had been vaccinated against mpox in Kinshasa over the past 10 days, surpassing half of the government’s initial target.

He credited the success to a strategic shift—expanding vaccine access beyond contacts and high-risk populations to anyone in geographic hotspots.

However, he said concerns have risen over the emergence of a new variant, Clade 1A, in Kinshasa.

“Scientists have found that this strain now shares a key gene with Clade 1B, which is linked to higher transmissibility. This genetic change could potentially make Clade 1A more infectious,” he said.

As the DRC grapples with multiple health and security challenges, he stressed the need for sustained international support to prevent the mpox outbreak from escalating into a larger public health emergency.

Meanwhile, he said Uganda has reported five cases of Ebola—three confirmed and two probable—over the past week.

“The outbreak was first detected in a four-year-old child with no apparent link to a previous cluster of cases involving nine people,” he said.

Although he said that genomic testing has confirmed that the virus strain remains the same, the index case remains unclear.

“In the previous outbreak, a nurse was suspected to be the first patient.

“However, as she lived in an urban setting without contact with animals known to carry Ebola, investigations are ongoing to determine if another unidentified source is responsible for the virus’s re-emergence.

“Health authorities in both the DRC and Uganda are calling for urgent intervention to contain these outbreaks and prevent further public health crises,” he said.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) declared mpox a global public health emergency in August 2024.

WHO made the declaration for the second consecutive year following the spread of a new variant from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to neighbouring countries.

Mpox, a viral infection transmitted through close contact, caused over 59,000 reported cases and 1,164 deaths across 20 African countries in 2024.

(NAN)