With mpox being declared a public health emergency of international concern by the World Health Organization because of its rapid spread, all eyes have been on the Democratic Republic of Congo, which accounts for nearly all of this year’s recorded cases and more than 450 deaths.
In visits to treatment centres in the east of the country, the BBC has found children are worst affected by the illness, which can be deadly.
“It began like a small, inflamed spot. The mother squeezed it and watery discharge came out. Then another developed, and after a short period, they were all over the body,” says Alain Matabaro, describing how mpox developed in his six-year-old son Amani.
He started recovering after four days of treatment at a clinic in Munigi, close to the major eastern Congolese city of Goma.
Some 75% of the cases being seen by medics there are under the age of 10, according to Dr Pierre-Olivier Ngadjole who works for the charity Medair.
Young people seem to be particularly badly affected by the mpox outbreak because of their less developed immune systems. [BBC]