Kinshasa, August 7th, 2025 (CPA). – The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has experienced a slight decrease in cases of cholera and Mpox (monkeypox) during epidemiological week 30 (from July 22nd-28th, 2025), according to a statement from the National Institute of Public Health (INSP) received on Thursday by CPA. « With regard to cholera, there has been a decrease in the number of cases, but it is regrettable that there have been preventable deaths. 1,831 cases of cholera have been reported in epidemiological week 30, compared to 2,013 the previous week. The 4% fatality rate is concerning. Regarding Mpox, there has been a slight improvement in the health situation in epidemiological week 30, with 579 cases compared to 636 cases in week 29, » it is read.
‘We plan to launch the cholera vaccination campaign in the seven most affected health zones in Kinshasa on August 15th, 2025. The doses are awaited this week,’ has announced Dr Dieudonne Mwamba, General Director of the National Institute of Public Health (INSP), quoted in the communique. Dr Mwamba has revealed that Cholera Treatment Centres (CTCs) for care are being set up in Kinshasa, in Tshopo, in Nord-Kivu, in Sud-Kivu, in Maniema and in Tanganyika. He has indicated that there have been discussions on strategies to be implemented against cholera, including the new ‘River without Cholera’ strategy deployed in the provinces bordering the Congo River, including Kinshasa, Equateur, Mai-Ndombe and Kwilu. ‘We are going to intensify these public health measures along the Congo River in terms of water chlorination, canoe disinfection, hand washing and community actions to prevent people from becoming infected from Kinshasa to other provinces,’ he has explained.
The General Director of the INSP has also reported that a case of Mpox clade 2b had been detected in a patient who had returned from Ivory Coast. This is a first case in DRC. « The clade 2b is a clade that is much more transmissible and spreads rapidly. We have already listed all the contacts around the cases and vaccinated them, » he has said. Dr Mwamba has emphasised that the emergency vaccination campaign against Mpox is underway in the affected provinces, notably Nord-Kivu, Sud-Kivu and Sud-Ubangi, and is expected to be extended to Sankuru. CPA/