WEBVTT

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JUDY WOODRUFF: The World
Health Organization has

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decided that the virus
formerly known as monkeypox
will now be designated mpox.

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However one refers to
with, the virus spread
globally earlier this year,

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bringing fears of another
pandemic, many Western
countries fought off the
outbreak with treatments

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and vaccines. But in the
Democratic Republic of
the Congo, or DRC, the
virus remains endemic.

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And front-line workers there
are trying to prevent it
from once again going global.

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Special correspondent
Benedict Moran and video
journalist Jorgen Samso sent

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us this report from the
DRC's capital, Kinshasa.

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BENEDICT MORAN: In may,
monkeypox spread across
the globe, eventually

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reaching at least 75 countries,
including to Europe and the U.S.

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Today, after widespread
use of antiviral medicine
and a preventative vaccine,

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global reported case numbers
are dramatically down.

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But, here in the Democratic
Republic of the Congo, the
virus remains a threat.

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In this clinic on the
outskirts of Kinshasa,
three young children are
suspected of being infected.

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One of them is 2-year-old
Kitenga Demichelle
(ph). She has a fever

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and is vomiting. Painful
sores cover her body.

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Dr. Tresor Gylefwa
is treating her.

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DR. TRESOR GYLEFWA, Bethesda
Medical Center (through
translator): The children

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showed up here with complaints
of fever, vomiting and
rashes. We checked up on them,

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but already, with
symptoms like these, we
suspect it's monkeypox.

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BENEDICT MORAN: Here, far from
Western capitals, there are no

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antivirals and no preventative
vaccines available to patients.

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DR. TRESOR GYLEFWA (through
translator): the only

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thing we can do is treat
the fever and the skin
rash. As for the rest,

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we need help for more
specialized doctors to
know what to do in order
to better help these kids.

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BENEDICT MORAN: The
Democratic Republic of the
Congo is the country most
affected by monkeypox,

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and it has continually
reported cases over the

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past five decades. For
the past few years, it
has seen a surge in cases.

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Despite this surge, the country
actually has few tools at
its disposal to fight the

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virus. Tecovirimat, an
antiviral used widely as
a treatment, is authorized
for use in the European

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Union and in the U.S.,
but not in the Congo or
anywhere in Africa. And
not a single dose of the

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smallpox vaccine, proven
to be effective against
monkeypox, is available
on the African continent.

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It's a phenomenon some are
calling medical racism.

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DR. BOGHUMA KABISEN TITANJI,
Emory University: There's no

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profit in it. And that's
where racism comes in.

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BENEDICT MORAN:
Dr. Boghuma Titanji

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is an assistant professor of
medicine at Emory University.

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DR. BOGHUMA KABISEN TITANJI:
That's where disenfranchisement
of people who are poor,

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who do not necessarily have a
loud voice to actually advocate
for these things comes in.

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There is a certain aspect of
people still being very much
stuck in the mind-set of,

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what is in it for me, as in, why
do we need to invest in malaria,

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in T.B., in HIV, in monkeypox,
if it's happening on the
other side of the planet?

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BENEDICT MORAN: Dr.
Nicole Hoff spends much
of her professional life
encouraging the world to care,

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even if here is the other
side of the planet. Hoff
is an American researcher

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at UCLA and has been
studying monkeypox in the
DRC for more than a decade.

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DR. NICOLE HOFF, UCLA:
So, really, we're seeing
cases kind of all over
the country at the moment.

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Recently, the most, the
largest outbreak that we
have seen has been in Tunda,

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which is the Maniema Province.
But then we have also seen
a number of cases up north,

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closer to Kisangani
and up in this area.

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BENEDICT MORAN: Because
monkeypox almost never caused
an infection outside of Africa,

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it usually remained a
distant threat. That meant
no money for research.

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DR. NICOLE HOFF: There's been
almost no funding, especially
in DRC, for monkeypox.

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The cases of monkeypox
have really stemmed from
here. And so I think to
really understand what's

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going on with transmission,
what's going on with the virus,
what's going on with mutations,

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what's going on possibly
for the future of monkeypox,
really, this is your base.

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BENEDICT MORAN: After
years of neglect,

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Western donors are now trying to
play catchup. A new $3 million
research project funded in

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part by the U.S. Department
of Defense hopes to
improve virus surveillance.

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That starts here at Congo's
National Laboratory.
It's the only lab in the

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country that tests for
monkeypox. But samples
sometimes take weeks to arrive

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here. Congo is the size
of Western Europe, with
poor infrastructure. By
the time results are in,

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patients have either
recovered or, in about 10
percent of cases, have died.

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Dr. Thierry Kalonji is
the assistant director

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of the National Institute for
Biomedical Research in Kinshasa.

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DR. THIERRY KALONJI,
Assistant Director,

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National Institute for
Biomedical Research, Kinshasa
(through translator):

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The delay between the start of
symptoms and when we receive a
lab sample is averaging 21 days.

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I'm talking about three weeks,
and the disease itself usually
lasts from four to five weeks.

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BENEDICT MORAN: By
improving surveillance here,

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donors hope to stop the virus
in its tracks and prevent it
from once again going global.

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Peter Fonjungo is the
director of the Centers
for Disease Control and
Prevention in the DRC.

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PETER FONJUNGO, CDC of
Congo Director: By building
these systems, we believe
containing them here,

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it's -- is the best strategy
of preventing a propagation and
transmission onward. Containing

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an epidemic here is the best way
of preventing spread originally,
as well as internationally.

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BENEDICT MORAN: But the DRC
still won't have widespread

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access to the antiviral
or to the vaccine.

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Kitenga Demichelle and
the two other children are
back at their orphanage.

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Their symptoms have slightly
improved. Because of
the months-long delay at
the National Laboratory,

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doctors still didn't know if
it was monkeypox or something
more common, like the measles.

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ANDRE NDOUMBE, Nurse,
Bethesda Medical Center
(through translator): You
see it's an orphanage,

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right? Where the virus came
from, no one knows. Who
they contracted it from,

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no one knows. We have
to take charge of this
situation, so that it
cannot spread any further.

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BENEDICT MORAN: With so
many questions unanswered,

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taking charge of this
situation and preventing
the virus from spreading
may remain a difficult task.

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For the "PBS NewsHour,"
I'm Benedict Moran in
Kinshasa, the Democratic
Republic of the Congo.