Democratic Republic of the Congo launches urgent Mpox vaccination campaign amid alarming outbreak
Kinshasa: Authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have launched a vaccination campaign against Mpox, following a significant outbreak that prompted the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare a global emergency nearly two months ago.
The vaccination campaign started in the eastern city of Goma, located in the North Kivu province, where local hospitals have been overwhelmed by the spread of a potentially more contagious strain of mpox. The DRC received 265,000 vaccine doses as donations from the European Union and the United States, which are now being administered to frontline workers and at-risk populations.
“Plans have been made to ensure all targeted personnel receive the vaccine,” Muboyayi Chikayal, the minister’s chief of staff, said during the campaign’s launch.
With approximately 30,000 suspected mpox cases and 859 deaths, the DRC has accounted for over 80% of Africa's reported mpox cases and nearly all the deaths this year. The outbreak has affected all 26 provinces of the central African nation.
Health Minister Roger Kamba stated that while the majority of mpox cases and deaths in the DRC have occurred among children under the age of 15, the current doses are being reserved for adults in high-risk groups. He emphasized that vaccination efforts are focused on protecting essential workers who are most exposed to the virus.
In addition to the current adult vaccination efforts, Minister Kamba announced that 3 million doses of a vaccine approved for use in children are expected to arrive from Japan in the coming days, allowing for an expanded immunization effort across the country.
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Pakistan reports two more polio cases; Total tally now 52
ISLAMABAD: At least two more cases of poliovirus were reported in Pakistan, taking the number of infections to 52 so far this year, a report said on Friday.
“The Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health has confirmed the detection of two more wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) cases in Pakistan," an official statement said.
The fresh infections — a boy and a girl — were reported from the Dera Ismail Khan district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.
“Genetic sequencing of the samples collected from the children is underway," the statement read. Dera Ismail Khan, one of the seven polio-endemic districts of southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, has reported five polio cases so far this year.
Of the 52 cases in the country this year, 24 are from Balochistan, 13 from Sindh, 13 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and one each from Punjab and Islamabad.
There is no cure for polio. Only multiple doses of the oral polio vaccine and completion of the routine vaccination schedule for all children under the age of five can keep them protected.
