Children in Burundi now bearing brunt of mpox outbreak in African countries

By Peter Kenny

GENEVA (AA) – The UN Children's Agency (UNICEF) said Friday that children in Burundi are bearing the brunt of the pox outbreak in several African countries, showing "alarming rates of infection" and severe health impacts.

"Children in Burundi are bearing the brunt of the mpox outbreak, with alarming rates of infection and severe health impacts," said UNICEF's Regional health advisor for Eastern and Southern Africa, Dr. Paul Ngwakum.

"Of the nearly 600 reported cases, two-thirds are in children under 19. The situation has escalated rapidly, with a more than 40% increase in cases over the past three weeks."

The UN doctor said that during a recent visit to Burundi, he had spoken with families, teachers, and health workers navigating the dual challenges of treating children and protecting children from mpox, while ensuring their education continues.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO) mpox is an illness caused by the monkeypox virus.

"It is a viral infection which can spread between people, mainly through close contact, and occasionally from the environment to people via things and surfaces that have been touched by a person with mpox," says WHO on its website.

In settings where the monkeypox virus is present among some wild animals, it can also be transmitted from infected animals to people who have contact with them says the WHO.

UNICEF's Ngwakum said fears expressed by parents and the resilience of communities in the face of this public health crisis were striking as they highlighted the critical need for our support to keep children safe, and learning.

UNICEF said it is working alongside WHO, Africa CDC (Centers for Disease Control), and other partners, and it is leading the response in key areas, including risk communication.

These are important as the UN is seeing a large amount of online misinformation – together with infection prevention, and mental health support for parents and frontline workers.

"Why mental health support? Because affected families are subjected to stigma, myths and are also fearful of a repeat of previous serious health outbreaks such as ebola or COVID 19. So there is an important role we are playing to dispel myths, and calm fears," said the UN doctor.

Ngwakum said that of particular concern is the rise of mpox among children under 5 years of age, representing 30% of the reported cases, underscoring the urgent need for targeted interventions as schools reopened on Sept. 16 in Burundi.

- More than 25,000 mpox cases

WHO spokesperson Margaret Harris said that from Jan. 1 to Sept. 8, a total of 25,093 suspected mpox cases, including both tested and untested cases, and 723 deaths among suspected cases, were reported in Africa.

"The three countries reporting the most suspected mpox cases in 2024 are the Democratic Republic of the Congo (21,835 suspected cases, 717 deaths), Burundi (1,489 suspected cases, no deaths), and Nigeria (935 suspected cases, no deaths)," said Harris.

"Since the beginning of 2024, the number of confirmed mpox cases in Africa has been steadily rising, mainly driven by the outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which account for around 90% (5,160 of 5,759 cases) of confirmed cases on the continent."

UNICEF said it is supporting Burundi's Ministry of Education to implement health measures in schools, train staff to recognize early symptoms of mpox and reinforce hand hygiene.

"We aim to ensure that all children can safely return to school and minimize educational disruptions. But make no mistake, we don't have all the answers. No one does," said Ngwakum.

"This is a rapidly evolving situation, with a new, infectious strain, and we are learning more every day about different modes of transmission."