Attachments
HIGHLIGHTS
- In December 2024, the average number of cases notified fell to below 2,500 per week, with a significant drop during the Epidemiological Week 51.
- Downward trends in mpox case notification and fluctuation in confirmation of cases (379 confirmed cases in week 52 compared to 522 confirmed cases in week 49).
- Since the declaration of the L3 mpox emergency more than 52 million people received information on mpox prevention, symptoms and health services through SMS, digital platforms, media, influencers, and face-to-face engagement.
- UNICEF is supporting 81 mpox treatment centers with nutrition interventions-22 in South Kivu, 11 in Equator, 25 in Sankuru, 2 in North Kivu, 10 in Tshopo, 4 in Kinshasa, and 7 in South Ubangi.
- The second round of the mpox vaccination campaign continued in December 2024 (45,265 people were vaccinated) in Equator, North Kivu, South Kivu, Sankuru, South Ubangi and Tshopo provinces.
SITUATION IN NUMBERS
64,173 Total suspected cases
1,341 People deceased
EPIDEMIOLOGICAL SITUATION OF MPOX IN THE DRC
By the end of the Epidemiological Week 52, marking the last week of 2024, the Democratic Republic of Congo had recorded a total of 64,173 suspected cases of mpox, 14,053 cases tested positive, and 1,341 deaths with a case-fatality rate of 2.08 per cent. The Epi curve since mid- October 2024 (Epidemiological Week 42) had been descending in terms of notifications, however there were fluctuations in the number of confirmed mpox cases (379 confirmed cases in week 52 compared to 522 confirmed cases in week 49). The breakdown of cases by age group is as follows: less than 10 per cent were children aged 0-4 years and around 19 per cent were those aged 5-15 years, with more cases reported in the over-15 age group. This variation in the number of cases by age group is heterogeneous depending on the province: in Kinshasa, for example, the 20 and over age group is the most affected, while South and North Kivu, around 50 per cent of children affected are under 10 years of age.
In December 2024, the average number of cases notified fell to below 2,500 per week, with a significant drop during the Epidemiological Week 51. This downward trend is observed in the Epi curve of the most affected Provincial Divisions of Health (DPS) of South Kivu, South Ubangi, Tshuapa, Tshopo, Sankuru, and North Kivu provinces, although these 6 provinces notified the highest number of suspected cases out of all the 26 provinces in DRC in December 2024. The testing rate remains low at around 44.5 per cent, due to the lack of sufficient sampling kits available in the health zones, as well as the long average time taken to transport samples to the diagnostic pools and obtain results. Additionally, the follow-up of contacts remains weak due to the lack of implementation and functionality of community-based surveillance in all hotspot provinces, thus 80 per cent of suspected cases are reported in healthcare institutions. Furthermore, there is the difficulty in harmonizing data collection tools between the national and provincial levels.
December was also marked by an intra-action review of the mpox response in the DRC, with recommendations to focus the response in hotspot health zones and to strengthen community-based surveillance with vaccination of contacts to interrupt the mpox transmission chain, as well as harmonization of the various surveillance and laboratory databases between the central and provincial levels.