Health officials reported 37 monkeypox out of 193 diagnosed. No death yet.
The Ministry of Public Health confirmed the first cases of Monkeypox on the 25th of July 2024.
Two days before, analysis of three samples from suspected cases tested positive at the Centre Hospitalo-Universitaire de Kamenge, Hôpital militaire de Kamenge and at the Health District of Isare.
Polycarpe Ndayikeza, spokesman for the Ministry of Health, reported as of Thursday 1 August, 22 cases of monkeypox had already been recorded, with no deaths.
Five days later, the tally jumped to 37 cases among 193 patients of which 15 patients in Bujumbura economic capital.
A 9-year-old girl died in Mugamba on 7 July. There were 5 more patients with similar symptoms.
A 12-year-old girl at the Vyuya health centre in Mugamba commune, a girl aged 2 years and 3 months and her mother at Ijenda hospital, a 13-year-old child at Kamenge military hospital and a 26-year-old man at the police hospital.
All the patients are under health facilities and well treated.
La variole simienne #MPOX est une maladie virale très contagieuse et dangereuse. Pour s’en préserver : Lavez-vous les mains à l’eau et au savon ou avec un gel hydro alcoolique, après avoir été en contact avec 1 pers infectée, ses vêtements et autres objets. pic.twitter.com/P3sqNNeBcv
— WHO Burundi (@WhoBurundi) August 5, 2024
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the monkeypox virus is an orthopoxvirus that causes mpox (monkeypox). It can cause a painful rash, enlarged lymph nodes and fever.
Since May 2022, cases have also been reported. Two distinct clades of the monkeypox virus have been identified: Clade I (previously known as the Congo Basin (central African) clade and Clade II (the former west African clade).
It is a zoonosis, a disease that is transmitted from animals to humans, with cases often found close to tropical rainforests where there are animals that carry the virus.
The disease can also spread from humans to humans. It can be transmitted through contact with bodily fluids, lesions on the skin or on internal mucosal surfaces, such as in the mouth or throat, respiratory droplets and contaminated objects.
To prevent infection, it is important to wash your hands with soap and water or with a hydroalcoholic gel after coming into contact with 1 infected person, their clothes or other objects.
According to the WHO, the main modes of transmission are through any form of bodily contact with an infected person or objects that have been in contact with the patient and/or secretions from the patient or infected animal, respiratory droplets or short-range aerosols.
Currently, there is also a major outbreak of clade I virus in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where cases have been on the rise for decades.
Since the beginning of the year, over 6500 cases and 345 deaths have been reported in the DRC. Almost half of these are among children under the age of 15 years.
