“A sharp rise in Mpox infections” is occurring in the mountains of western Sudan, reports Sudan Tribune. Monkeypox, also known as Mpox, is spreading “across the Jebel Marra region of North Darfur” amidst a “catastrophic collapse in humanitarian and health conditions” due to Sudan’s civil war.
Jebel Marra is a large, rugged volcanic mountain range.
“350 Mpox cases have been officially documented since the viral disease first emerged in East Jebel Marra on May 16, specifically concentrated in the localities of Jawa, Soni, and Durban.” A local official “expressed grave concern over the potential expansion of the virus to adjacent territories if immediate medical interventions are not implemented to stabilize the epidemiological situation.”
“Mpox is a viral zoonotic disease caused by the monkeypox virus…It is transmitted primarily through close, personal skin-to-skin contact, respiratory droplets during prolonged face-to-face interactions, and contact with contaminated materials such as bedding or surfaces. Early clinical symptoms include high fever, severe headache, muscle aches, back pain, profound exhaustion, and lymphadenopathy (swollen lymph nodes)—a key diagnostic feature that distinguishes it from other look-alike rashes.”
Sudan is in the midst of a civil war between Sudan’s armed forces, and a militia called the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Both sides have killed thousands of civilians using drones. The Rapid Support Forces also have committed genocide against the Masalit people of Darfur in western Sudan. And they slaughtered tens of thousands of the Zaghawa people, including thousands of children, after seizing the major city of El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur. The RSF also has kidnapped thousands of people and held them for ransom, torturing many of them. The RSF has killed at least 250,000 people from non-Arab ethnic groups in Sudan’s western Darfur region.
