Mpox in Burundi: On the frontline of the fight to halt the spread

Cases are rising in Burundi as the virus moves from neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo.

British Broadcasting CorporationWatchHomeNewsSportBusinessInnovationCultureTravelEarthVideoLiveHomeNewsIsrael-Gaza WarWar in UkraineUS ElectionUS & CanadaUKUK PoliticsEnglandN. IrelandN. Ireland PoliticsScotlandScotland PoliticsWalesWales PoliticsAfricaAsiaChinaIndiaAustraliaEuropeLatin AmericaMiddle EastIn PicturesBBC VerifySportBusinessExecutive LoungeTechnology of BusinessWomen at the HelmFuture of BusinessInnovationTechnologyScience & HealthArtificial IntelligenceAI v the MindCultureFilm & TVMusicArt & DesignStyleBooksEntertainment NewsTravelDestinationsAfricaAntarcticaAsiaAustralia and PacificCaribbean & BermudaCentral AmericaEuropeMiddle EastNorth AmericaSouth AmericaWorld’s TableCulture & ExperiencesAdventuresThe SpeciaListEarthNatural WondersWeather & ScienceClimate SolutionsSustainable BusinessGreen LivingVideoLiveLive NewsLive SportHomeNewsSportBusinessInnovationCultureTravelEarthVideoLiveAudioWeatherNewsletters'Mpox made my throat so painful I couldn’t sleep'Mercy Juma / BBCEgide Irambona, who thinks he contracted mpox from a friend, may have passed it on to his wife Egide Irambona, 40, sits bare-chested on his hospital bed, next to the window, in a treatment room that he shares with two other men.

The rays of the evening sun shining above Burundi’s main city, Bujumbura, filter in. His face, bathed in a soft light, is covered in blisters. His chest too, and his arms.

“I had swollen lymph nodes in my throat. It was so painful I couldn’t sleep. Then the pain subsided there and it moved to my legs,” he tells the BBC.

Mr Irambona has mpox.

He is one of the more than 170 confirmed cases recorded since last month in Burundi. One of the poorest countries in the world, it borders the Democratic Republic of Congo, the epicentre of several recent mpox outbreaks, which have led to at least 450 deaths and 14,000 suspected cases so far this year.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cly3xzdq909o

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