A laboratory-confirmed case of mpox has been registered in the city of Bunia in the northeast of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Another woman is in isolation with a suspected infection, while specialists are tracing contacts and searching for the source of the infection. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.
According to the leadership of the local hospital, the virus has been officially confirmed in a 21-year-old female patient. She was admitted to the hospital with characteristic rashes, and the next day a laboratory test came back positive.
The second woman, aged 32, currently has the status of a suspected case and is awaiting test results. For safety reasons, both patients have been placed in an isolation ward, where a special team of medics monitors their condition.
At present, doctors are urgently establishing the circle of contacts of the isolated patients and trying to find the primary source of the infection.
According to the former deputy head of the relevant operational headquarters, Adelard Lofungola, another five possible cases of infection are being checked in Bunia alone. Overall, over the past month, the Congolese Ministry of Health has recorded a rise in mpox incidence in several regions at once.
The situation is compounded by the fact that the country's healthcare system is operating at the limit of its capacity due to a large-scale Ebola epidemic, which makes monitoring and containing new infections extremely difficult.
Recall that mpox is a viral infection that is transmitted from person to person through close physical contact. The main symptoms of the disease are a high fever and a characteristic rash on the skin.
Earlier, Kursiv wrote that the death toll in the DRC from the new Ebola strain had already reached 3,779 people. A total of 7,820 cases of the disease have been confirmed. Due to a shortage of hospital beds, patients are dying right in the admission wards.
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