500 mpox patients flee clinics after rebel looting

Over the past month, over 500 mpox patients have escaped from clinics in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo due to the ongoing conflict.

Authorities at Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), a prominent health organization on the continent, have expressed concerns that the missing patients pose a risk of spreading the highly infectious disease believed to have claimed around 900 lives in DR Congo last year.

The patients escaped from centers in Goma and Bukavu – two towns that fell into turmoil as they were taken over by the Rwanda-supported M23 rebels in recent weeks.

“We were looted. We lost equipment. It was a disaster,” Dr Samuel Muhindo, in charge of a clinic in Goma .

Mpox, which was previously referred to as monkeypox, can lead to symptoms including lesions, headaches, and fever.

As per Africa CDC, since the beginning of this year nearly 2,890 mpox cases and 180 fatalities have been recorded in the nation, which has been at the center of multiple recent outbreaks. Dr. Muhindo explained that 128 patients had escaped from Goma’s Mugunga health center following the conflict at the end of January.

He mentioned that his health workers were unable to locate them because the clinic’s documents had been destroyed. At Bisengimana, a Goma hospital that also provides care for mpox, looters seized medications and personal protective gear. Fires were started outside the center, and when the offenders left, patients’ medical records were left scattered on the ground.

The M23’s choice to shut down a series of camps in Goma has further complicated the situation for tens of thousands of people who had sought refuge from recent fighting. Last week, they were instructed to depart within 72 hours, although the M23 subsequently stated it was promoting “voluntary returns”.

“Now we are afraid of an outbreak of the epidemic in the areas where the displaced people returned to,” Dr Muhindo said.

His fears have been echoed by the Africa CDC.

“Once again, we are calling really for the ceasefire and also the agency to establish a humanitarian corridor to facilitate the continuation of mpox interventions,” Dr Ngashi Ngongo, Africa CDC’s mpox incident manager, said on Thursday.

In the past week, the Africa CDC reports that the count of missing mpox patients has increased by 100 as violence intensifies and rebels acquire additional land.  Dr. Ngongo mentioned that a new variant of mpox with “significant potential for increased transmissibility” has also been found in DR Congo.

The nation’s capacity to address the disease has been obstructed by the conflict between the M23 and the DR Congo army, along with insufficient funding. The Mpox center at Mugunga, supported by the UN children’s organization (Unicef) and UK Aid Direct, successfully reopened last week.  However, it is already so overextended that there are moments when four or five patients must share one bed.