Young people are particularly affected by the Embox virus in Africa, such as in Burundi, where a third of patients are under five years old, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Friday.
Burundi is the second-worst affected country after the Democratic Republic of Congo. The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, part of the African Union, said on Thursday that the epidemic on the continent was “not under control.”
Monkeypox, formerly called monkeypox, is caused by a virus that is transmitted to humans from infected animals, and can also be transmitted between humans through contact.
“Burundi’s children are the first to be affected by this disease, with alarming rates of infection and serious health consequences,” said Paul Ngwakum, UNICEF Regional Health Advisor for Eastern and Southern Africa.
He said that two-thirds of the cases recorded in Burundi are people aged 19 or under.
“The increase in the number of cases of EMBOX is worrying among children under five, who represent 30 per cent of the cases recorded,” he told reporters in Geneva, speaking via video link from Bujumbura.