The Challenges

The Congo River is a natural border between DRC and RoC and a preferred route for the passage of individuals and goods including living and dead animals. Brazzaville and Kinshasa are the two closest capitals in the world.

For those reasons, the Congo River represents a public health challenge for health systems surveillance in both countries.
Therefore, MPXV outbreaks declared in both countries require a multifaceted approach. This includes:
– Lack of Surveillance: Current surveillance methods are absent in communities along the river or are insufficient to adequately sample all potential reservoirs including humans, animals, and water sources.
– Insufficient Diagnostic Capacity: No field diagnostic tests are available, and the sensitivity and specificity of the laboratory diagnostic tests are not enough to detect low viral load nor differentiate MPXV from other orthopoxviruses.
– Lack of understanding of transmission pathways: Poor surveillance efforts coupled with ineffective diagnostic tests result in a lack of understanding of transmission routes and reservoirs. This data is critical to monitor current infection spread and predict future outbreaks.
– Public Awareness and Education: There is a complete absence of education efforts to inform the exposed public about MPXV and the factors contributing to disease spread. There is a parallel lack of understanding of the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of communities towards MPXV, which could be contributing factors to the outbreak and the stigmatisation of affected people. This disconnect between local communities and public health efforts inhibits the development of effective and impactful responses.

The MPOX-PROBE project aims to address and resolve the above challenges.