The nightlife in Kamituga, a mining town in eastern DR Congo, has been identified as a major driver behind the spread of mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, according to local health authorities. The town’s goldmines and bustling bars have become hotspots for transmission of the virus, which spreads through close physical contact.
“Life in Kamituga drives people to sin,” stated Bitama Sebuhuni, a prospector currently hospitalized after contracting the virus during unprotected sex. He highlighted the town’s nightlife, where gold-diggers, hawkers, and prostitutes converge after work, as a primary factor in the outbreak.
Kamituga’s mpox outbreak began in September 2023 and has since become a health crisis, according to Dr. Dally Muamba Kambaji of the ALIMA medical NGO. “About 20 percent of our patients contracted the virus through sexual transmission,” Dr. Kambaji said, emphasizing that condoms offer no protection against mpox.
Doctors at the Kamituga hospital first identified the resurgence of the virus when unusual skin lesions appeared on a nightclub manager. “When we noticed similar lesions on women frequenting the same nightclub, we raised the alarm,” said Dr. James Wakilonga Zanguilwa.
Despite health warnings, prostitutes in Kamituga continue their trade, though some, like Nicole Mubukwa, admit that the outbreak has significantly affected business. “Since this disease started, customers have been fewer,” Mubukwa lamented.
The virus has spread throughout South Kivu, making the province the epicenter of the epidemic in the DR Congo, the worst-hit country in Africa by the mpox outbreak.
