Russia’s sanitary watchdog assists Burundi in fighting monkeypox

MOSCOW, September 5. /TASS/. Russia’s Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing (Rospotrebnadzor) provided Burundi with a batch of Russian tests for diagnosing monkeypox to assist in fighting the disease, the agency’s press service told journalists.
“A delegation of Rospotrebnadzor arrived in Bujumbura (the Republic of Burundi) within the framework of support to African countries in the fight against monkeypox. It will assess the epidemiological situation in the country and help partners in detecting and preventing the infection. During the meeting with the Burundian Minister of Health and Fight against AIDS Liduine Baradahana, a batch of Russian tests for monkeypox was handed over, a plan of joint work for the coming days was drawn up,” the press service noted.
As specified, specialists from Russia will visit hospitals, as well as take samples from patients with monkeypox and examine them in the Russian-Burundian center for infectious disease research and prevention.
Mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, is a rare viral disease which is endemic to remote regions near tropical forests of Central and Western Africa. The first case of an animal transmitting the disease to humans was recorded in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1970. Usually the lethality coefficient during mpox outbreaks ranges from 1% to 10% with the majority of fatalities affecting younger age groups.