Stigma adds to Burundi's challenges in mpox fight

Stigma adds to Burundi's challenges in mpox fight

By Clement Manirabarusha

Eric Mbonigaba recovered from mpox after four weeks in hospital but the Burundian motorcycle taxi driver says he has since fallen victim to stigma surrounding the disease, and risks losing his home and his livelihood.

One of the first people to be diagnosed with mpox in Burundi, his problems underline the challenges facing Africa's second-worst affected country in its fight against the disease.

The father of boys aged three and seven was discharged from hospital last month and returned to his home in Burundi's financial capital Bujumbura, only to told by his landlady that he must leave.

"She refused to take my rent. I can be chased out of the house at any time and I don't have anywhere to accommodate my family," Mbonigaba, 31, told Reuters.

His facial scars -- a legacy of the pus-filled lesions caused by mpox -- tend to scare away customers, he said. Many refuse even to greet him.

His is not an isolated case.

A fellow patient was also facing an eviction threat from his landlord, Mbonigaba said.

A U.N. health official told Reuters last month that Burundi would be able to stop the outbreak within weeks if it could harness enough resources and tackle the stigma associated with mpox.

"If people are scared and don't want to come forth, it will take a long time," said Paul Ngwakum, Regional Health Adviser for Eastern and Southern Africa for the U.N. children's agency (UNICEF).

Burundi has recorded nearly 600 cases since July 25.

Mbonigaba said some of his friends chose to buy medicines and treat their symptoms in secret at home, flouting government rules that require mpox patients to visit a hospital for free treatment.

The government has not publicly spoken about the impact of stigma on the fight against mpox. The ministry of health's spokesman said he would "conduct a probe" into the issue.

The disease is suspected to have killed more than 800 people in Africa this year, most of them in the Democratic Republic of Congo but none in Burundi, according to the World Health Organization.