Monkeypox kills 22 in DRC

2008-05-22 07:23

Kinshasa - A monkeypox outbreak in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo has killed 22 people and infected 220 more since January, says the health ministry.

The Tshuapa district in the Equateur province was the epicentre, according to a government epidemic survey.

Local health authorities were tending the sick with the backing of the United Nations World Health Organisation. Officials from the United States Centres for Disease Control visited the area last week and trained some of them.

The first symptoms of monkeypox were aches, pains and a fever. A bumpy localised rash then appeared on any part of the skin. This lesion gradually fell off.

This highly contagious disease usually strikes in remote rural areas surrounded by rainforests although the chances of catching it are very slim, according to experts.

As well as monkeys, African squirrels were among the main carriers of this lethal virus, which was first discovered by scientists in the DRC in 1970.

- AFP