The DRC’s Mpox Outbreak: A Global Health Threat We Can’t Ignore
Mpox doesn’t respect borders. The recent outbreak is a global health threat that demands immediate attention and resources. Learn more from Emily Chambers Sharpe, the director of Health and Nutrition at World Relief.
On Tuesday, August 13, 2024, the Director General of Africa’s CDC, Dr. Jean Kaseya, announced that mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, is a global health threat. What started in 2022 as an outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has now spread to 14 African countries. The Africa CDC has been leading the charge, sounding alarms and building on strong capacity for outbreak responses to Ebola and COVID in recent years.
This mpox is not just a local, African crisis. Instead, it is a global health threat demanding immediate attention and resources. The United States, and the world, need to act now. The global community – including the U.S., with its experience in global health security – has a moral obligation to help contain the mpox outbreak at its source, delivering support to those who have already been impacted and preventing further spread of this disease.
A Perfect Storm in the DRC
In DRC, more than 25.4 million people are impacted by conflict, climate risks, and political and economic isolation. World Relief, a global Christian humanitarian organization active in DRC since 2001, assessed the impact of mpox in Nyiragongo territory in July. The assessment showed a grim picture, particularly in Mudja Internally Displaced People’s camp. Densely populated and lacking access to basic sanitation, these camps report high rates of mpox transmission.
The virus thrives on close contact between people, including sexual contact. In this area, many displaced people also experience sexual violence and other vulnerabilities to the disease. Since June 24, 2024, the outbreak in North Kivu has spread rapidly, and young people are vulnerable. About 60% of confirmed cases in DRC have occurred in youth under age 15.
Beyond Borders: A Global Threat
Mpox doesn’t respect borders. Cases have already spread to neighboring countries, demonstrating the interconnectedness of global health. World Relief colleagues in Rwanda, Burundi, and Kenya are collaborating with Ministries of Health and other partners in response to other confirmed cases. In Chad, South Sudan, and Sudan the teams are preparing for a response after suspected cases have been reported. This outbreak could overwhelm even the strongest health systems, but the countries currently impacted are already facing war, climate crises, and other fragilities.
Lessons from COVID-19: Early Action Saves Lives
The global community learned the hard way with COVID-19 that ignoring early outbreaks of disease can become a global catastrophe. By investing in prevention and treatment of mpox now, we can prevent a much larger, more devastating pandemic later.
What’s Needed?
- Funding: The U.S. government and the international community needs to step up and provide increased financial support for humanitarian organizations (especially local organizations) with capacity to reach displaced people and those most affected with prevention and treatment efforts, particularly in communities like the IDP camps in the DRC, at-risk communities, and neighboring countries. Community engagement strategies (such as distribution of basic infection prevention and control measures and personal protective equipment for healthcare workers and exposed family members) can help communicate risks and trace close contacts of confirmed cases.
- Risk Communication and Community Engagement together with Vaccines and Treatment: Mpox vaccines exist, but many currently lack access or might be suspicious of vaccines when they become available in places like Eastern DRC, where vaccine coverage is low and suspicions about vaccines and outbreak responses is high. Communities need access to accurate, timely information about mpox prevention and treatment. On the policy side, countries like DRC and others need support from ministries of health in Africa to rapidly develop guidelines for and approvals of available mpox vaccines. On the supply side, Africa CDC needs access to more than 10 million doses of vaccine to meet the demand. This will require collaboration between donors, pharmaceutical companies, and governments to move the vaccines in a timely way.
- Coordinated, global response: The Africa CDC and the global health community have world-class public health experts that have turned the tide on HIV and more recently on COVID-19. We need to leverage that expertise and experience and build on the capacities that the U.S. invested in and ensure global health security.
A Call to Action
From the camps in DRC to other locations around Africa, the mpox outbreak serves as a stark reminder of how interconnected our world is. Ignoring this crisis endangers us all. The U.S. has the power and resources to lead the global response. Let’s learn from past mistakes and act now, together, to prevent this outbreak from becoming a pandemic that takes the lives of millions.
About this Author:
Emily Chambers Sharpe is the Director of Health and Nutrition at World Relief.