Aid workers fighting Mpox try to reach villagers in conflict areas

Health authorities in sub-Saharan Africa said armed gangs and rebel groups were preventing them from entering towns and villages where MPOX cases were suspected.

The United Nations said international awareness was needed to contain the spread of the virus. The virus is transmitted to humans from other people and from infected animals and is considered a public health emergency of international concern.

According to officials in the Central African Republic, health workers trying to contain an outbreak of the Mpox virus are complaining about difficulties in safely accessing towns and villages where armed gangs operate.

Government troops are fighting rebels to end the violence and political unrest that began in 2013.

Health Minister Pierre Somse said on state television that armed groups should know that civilians urgently need help.

In 2023, there were 10 suspected cases in the country, and this year there are already 45. However, more cases in remote areas may go undetected. Armed groups in conflict zones such as the city of Bayanga near the border with Congo should support the government in stopping the disease, says Somse.

The Democratic Republic of Congo is also a country with internal armed conflict. According to the WHO, more than 95% of the approximately 17,000 cases of MPOX reported worldwide this year have been registered in this country. The central African state has reported nearly 530 deaths from the disease.

According to the UN, the virus has spread to five countries neighboring Congo in recent months – the Central African Republic, Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda.

Longunza Malassi Joseph, adviser to the environment minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo, said the virus was spreading rapidly because it was difficult for humanitarian workers to visit conflict-prone communities south of the Sahara in safe conditions.

“People are fleeing conflict zones and they’re not paying attention to hygiene. They’re just running for their lives,” Longunza told VOA. “This is problematic because you can’t teach people to follow health measures once they’re running for their lives. Health workers sometimes have to cross unsafe areas. They can be attacked. They can be killed.”

Cameroonian authorities also said the rebels were making it virtually impossible for health workers to safely reach English-speaking regions, where ongoing conflicts are raging between government troops and armed separatists fighting to carve out independent states or regions from the predominantly French-speaking country.

Since July, at least 40 suspected cases of Mpox have been reported in Cameroon, with three deaths. About a dozen of the more than 40 cases have been documented in the English-speaking southwest region of Cameroon, where government troops are fighting separatists.

The Republic of Congo said it had confirmed 19 of 60 suspected cases on its territory.

Nigerian officials said humanitarian workers were being prevented from teaching civilians how to protect themselves from MPOX after 32 states reported at least one confirmed case of the virus. Nigeria has been battling Boko Haram terrorists near its northern border with Chad, Cameroon and Niger for more than 10 years.

Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon, the Central African Republic and Congo are sending government troops to protect civilians and medical personnel from rebels and armed groups.

None of the sub-Saharan countries have reported deaths among humanitarian workers.