First Mpox vaccination campaign in the DRC

A deadly Mpox outbreak has hit the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Since the beginning of the year, there have been 30,000 cases and 988 deaths, most of them children under 5. To contain the epidemic, the first vaccines against the virus were administered to hospital staff in the city of Goma. They will later be administered to those most at risk and to the general population. To date, the DRC has received 265,000 doses of vaccine, including donations from the United States and the European Union, but is still waiting for additional millions of doses from France, Japan, and the United States. Unfortunately, the small number of doses will not allow the entire population to be vaccinated, so priority will be given to those at higher risk, but only to adults. The WHO has announced that it has approved the use of the first diagnostic test for Mpox. The test can detect the virus in swabs taken from human lesions. In July 2022, the WHO declared a public health emergency of international concern, its highest level of alert.