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Sickness and fatalities in the monkeypox outbreak in Africa go unreported

Six-year-old Angelika Lifafu grabs her dress and screams as nurses in protective suits pick at one of the hundreds of boils that bother her delicate skin at a tiny clinic in central Congo, cut off from the outside world by a maze of waterways and forests.

 

Lisungi Lifafu, her 12-year-old uncle, is sitting at the foot of her bed, his eyes puffy and weeping as the sunshine streams in through the doorway. He lifts his chin when nurses approach but is unable to look up.

 

The children have monkeypox, which was discovered in the Congo 50 years ago but has subsequently become more prevalent in West and Central Africa. Until it infected 77,000 people this year and expanded globally, the sickness garnered little notice.

 

Africa has experienced much fewer instances of the current outbreak than Europe or the United States, which snatched up the few available immunizations this year as the disease made its way to their borders.

 

However, Reuters investigation indicates that the outbreak and death toll in Congo may be far higher than indicated by official numbers, largely due to the lack of diagnostic facilities in rural regions and the scarcity of efficient medications.

 

About 20 monkeypox patients, including two who had passed away, were discovered by Reuters reporters during a six-day trip to the isolated area of Tshopo this month. Their cases had not previously been documented. None of them, not even Lisungi and Angelika, had access to immunizations or antiviral medications.

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