2024-10-14 16:10:00
As the smallpox epidemic continues to grow rapidly in sixteen African countries, the first vaccine doses have begun to be distributed to the hardest-hit countries. This is the first time on the African continent, and in particular in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where the disease has been endemic for fifty years. After a large epidemic outside Africa in 2022 and two public health emergencies of international importance – the highest alert level of the World Health Organization (WHO) -, decreed in 2022 and 2024, the Congolese finally have access to precious product. Two months after the WHO emergency declaration, “Smallpox remains a major public health problem in Africa”warns Jean Kaseya, director of the Africa CDC, the African public health agency.
The first doses arrived on site on October 5, particularly in the east of the DRC, in the provinces of North Kivu and South Kivu, crucibles of the epidemic that emerged over the last year. This new clade 1b variant then spread rapidly to some neighboring countries. Since Monday 7 October, Rwanda has also started vaccinating some target populations, while Nigeria, where clade 2 prevails, is expected to soon launch its own campaign.
The issue is fundamental for the DRC, where the vast majority of mux cases on the continent are recorded (85%). Since the beginning of 2024, 31,350 suspected cases have been identified in the country for almost 1,000 deaths, equivalent to a mortality rate of 3.2%. Only 6,169 cases could be confirmed by laboratory PCR tests (for 25 confirmed deaths), which demonstrates a serious problem of access to diagnostics. Concretely, only 40% of suspected cases are tested, which means that many infected people go untreated, increasing the risks of spread. The transmission of the virus occurs mainly through contact with skin or mucosal lesions of infected people.
The main known antiviral against MPOX, tecovirimat, having not demonstrated conclusive results against the current epidemicvaccination remains the only effective treatment. This is why the arrival of the first vaccines was so awaited in the DRC. So far, around 265,000 doses have been received by the country’s health authorities, of which 200,000 from the European Union, 50,000 from the United States and 15,000 through the Gavi organisation, the main international solidarity actor that supports low-income countries in purchasing vaccines.
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