In the North Kivu province in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), a vaccination campaign against the M’pox virus has resulted in 14,000 people being vaccinated so far. The DRC Ministry of Health announced that as of October 5, a total of 14,180 individuals have received the vaccine in Goma, the capital of North Kivu, where the campaign was initiated. It was mentioned that the campaign aims to vaccinate 2.5 million people. Over 5,000 confirmed cases of monkeypox have been identified in the DRC since the beginning of this year, with more than 620 fatalities due to the virus.

The M’pox virus is transmitted from rodents and infected individuals. Touching the body rash caused by the virus, using contaminated clothing, sheets, towels, and similar items, as well as contact with bodily fluids, are among the main causes of transmission. Initial symptoms can appear between 5 to 21 days after contracting the virus. Generally, the virus causes high fever, headache, back and muscle pain, swollen lymph nodes, fatigue, chills, tremors, and blister-like bumps on the skin. There is no specific treatment for the disease, with antiviral medications being used for treatment. Most cases experience a mild form of the illness and recover within a few weeks. WHO changed the name of the disease from “monkeypox” to “mpox” in 2022 due to concerns of racism and discrimination.