Global health organizations have recorded significantly fewer cases in Africa during the current outbreak than in Europe and the US; this casualties snatched up the few available vaccines this year as the disease made its way to their shores.
The outbreak and death toll in the Congo, however, might be much worse than what is indicated by official statistics. The children have monkeypox, which was discovered in the Congo 50 years ago but has since become more prevalent in West and Central Africa. Until it infected 77,000 people this year and spread globally, the illness received little attention.
WHO’s monkeypox incident manager on the continent, the organization sent about 40,000 tests to Africa, including 1,500 to the Congo. The kids were brought to Yalolia, where based on their symptoms, it was determined that they had monkeypox.
Before Reuters traveled to Yalolia with a local health official named Theopiste Maloko, none of the cases had been reported to the authorities.