Burundi treats ‘sick and scared’ mpox patients as global cases surge

“I felt very sick and scared, I couldn’t even walk anymore,” said mpox patient Samuel Nduwimana in Burundi’s economic capital Bujumbura, one of around 170 confirmed cases in the small African country.

Talking to journalists from an isolation ward in the city’s King Khaled Teaching Hospital, Nduwimana’s face and upper body are scattered with painful-looking marks.

“I started to lose my appetite, I had a fever and I felt a small pimple on my genitals that hurt a lot,” he said, describing the onset of symptoms, which he hoped was malaria.

“I didn’t even know what I was suffering from,” said Nduwimana, but as his conditions worsened he eventually sought treatment.

Mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, is caused by a virus transmitted to humans by infected animals that can also be passed between humans through close physical contact.

While it has been known for decades, a new more deadly and more transmissible strain – known as Clade 1b – has driven the recent uptick in cases.

Cases in East Africa have surged, with Burundi confirming 171 earlier this week, Kenya finding its second case on Friday and neighbouring Uganda reporting four cases in total.

Globally, cases have also been reported in Europe and Asia, with the World Health Organization declaring an international health emergency over the latest outbreak.

Burundian authorities are scrambling to combat the outbreak, with doctor Odette Nsavyimana treating those infected.

“Sometimes patients come in a severe, critical condition with a fever of 39 degrees Celsius,” she told journalists, swathed in protective gear including gloves and a mask.

The disease causes “very painful and itchy lesions that need urgent treatment”, she said.

The centre provides free treatment and has a capacity for around 50 patients, according to Liliane Nkengurutse, national director for the Centre for Public Health Emergency Operations.

Cases of the disease were increasing, after it spread from “hot zones” on the country’s border with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) with “cases [now] almost all over the country”, she told journalists.

The DRC has recorded 16,700 cases and more than 570 deaths this year, according to the central African country’s health minister.

In Burundi, Nkengurutse said, they were acting quickly to identify, isolate and then treat patients.

“We still don’t have any deaths, because we’re lucky enough to be able to detect cases quickly and take care of them early,” she said.

In the ward, Nduwimana, who praised the free treatment he had received, had a message for those who are worried they might have mpox.

“They need to rush to hospital for treatment,” he said.

“This epidemic is very serious, it hurts a lot, you’re in too much pain, and you don’t know what to do.”