doctors in the Democratic Republic of the Congo continue to fight a surge in empo cases as they await the arrival of vaccines in the next few days the World Health Organization said on Friday that 230,000 doses are immediately available to be dispatched they were donated by the European commission and danish empo vaccine manufacturer Bavarian Nordic Dr Jose pululu head of the empo center at Viana said the people being treated here are those with severe or critical cases he detailed how empo can lead to serious complications if not attended to including genital lesions despite the push for vaccination some patients like blae mukendi are hesitant about being inoculated what will it do to my body something I don't know because with covid-19 we saw that some people refused the vaccine some accept the covid-19 vaccine and others refused because they had other problems afterward so with this vaccine we need a clear explanation of its role in our body if it will really help us we will accept it we are sick earlier this month the W declared empo a global Public Health Emergency more than 18,000 suspected cases of empo have been reported in Congo so far this year the viral infection has now spread to at least 12 12 neighboring countries empo had been circulating in the drlc since January last year but only became a grave concern this January when scientists spotted a worrying new mutation