Nairobi, 21 February 2025 (dpa/MIA) - The African Union's public health chief issued a stark warning on Thursday about the expansion of the current mpox virus outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo as the conflict in the east of the country forces patients to flee.

Jean Kaseya, head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, said that more than 400 patients have fled the mpox treatment centres in the eastern Congolese province of South Kivu.

"We don't know where these people are and we are very concerned," Kaseya said during the health agency's weekly briefing.

Since the end of January, the rebel militia M23 has advanced in eastern Congo and captured two provincial capitals, following fierce battles with the Congolese army.

Since then, reported cases have declined, but this is mainly due to regional instability, the mass displacement of hundreds of thousands, and the collapse of testing facilities for suspected cases.

South Kivu is considered one of the focal points of mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, in the Central African country particularly affected by the virus outbreak.

The potentially more dangerous variant of the disease is also widespread here.

The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the highest alert level last August due to the mpox outbreaks in Africa and the new, potentially more dangerous variant.

This is intended to mobilize authorities around the world to be more vigilant.

Since the beginning of the year, almost 19,000 suspected cases of mpox have been reported in 13 countries across the African continent.

Kaseya said the consequences of the conflict and the pause in US government funding could be dire. "The mechanism that we had in place in terms of sample referral was mostly based on the US funding provided to us," he said.

The risk of mpox spreading rapidly in refugee camps is increasing. Contact tracing is nearly impossible, several health facilities have been looted and many malnourished refugees face a higher risk of severe illness.

"We are playing with fire," Kaseya warned. "I say that ... can be the entry point for a new pandemic. And we are very serious when we are saying that."

MIA file photo