Monkeypox has been officially declared by the World Health to be sexually transmitted in the Democratic Republic of Congo, specifically in the northern and central areas.
The World Health Organization reports that the primary mode of transmission for this outbreak was through sexual contact among individuals who identify as men and engage in same-sex relationships.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the first cases reported when a man from Belgium, who had visited the Democratic Republic of the Congo, tested positive for clade I MPXV in Kenge, Kwango province. Following this, individuals who had sexual contact with him in the Democratic Republic of the Congo also tested positive for clade I MPXV, which represents the first documented case of clade I MPXV infection through sexual transmission within a group of cases.
On the other hand, the WHO has raised concerns about the escalation of the outbreak in the country, expressing worry over the substantial surge in the number of suspected cases.
“According to recent data, there has been a significant increase in reported cases of Molluscum contagiosum virus (MPXV) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. These cases have been documented in various provinces across the country, marking the highest number of annual cases ever reported. It is worth noting that MPXV cases have emerged in areas where the virus had not been previously recorded, such as Kinshasa, Lualaba, and South Kivu. Testing has been conducted on suspected cases using reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), with 714 individuals testing positive out of 1106 tested (yielding a positivity rate of 65%).”
The Ministry of Public Health, Hygiene, and Prevention has taken proactive steps to tackle the monkeypox outbreak by developing a well-funded national preparedness and response plan. In light of this, the World Health Organization has advised all nations to implement preventive measures in order to effectively address the ongoing outbreak.
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