'Everyone was afraid' DRC's displaced families caught on the mpox frontline

First, liquid-filled blisters developed on threeyear-old Marceline Désiré's back.

- Carlos Mureithi, Ruth Alonga

About two weeks later, they appeared on her younger brother Jordan's body, starting from his neck. The two children spent weeks in hospital until they recovered.

As Marceline sat in their tarpaulin shelter at Mudja displacement camp in the Democratic Republic of the Congo last week with Jordan in the arms of their mother, Bambire Rwanika, next to her, lesions and scars caused by mpox were still visible, especially on Marceline.

"Everyone was afraid to approach the sick children - except me, because as a mother, I couldn't abandon them," said Rwanika.

More than 17,000 cases of mpox, a viral disease that causes painful rashes and flu-like symptoms, have been reported in 13 African countries this year. The DRC accounts for 96% of the cases and 97% of deaths this year.

Cases of mpox on the continent have increased by 160% year on year. The fast rise in cases and their spread across borders - several countries have reported cases for the first time - led the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) and the World Health Organization to declare the mpox outbreak a public health emergency this month.