More than 25.4 million people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo – a quarter of the population – require aid, amid persistent insecurity and violence. Millions of people have been displaced and live in camps such as Mudja (pictured), outside Goma, capital of North Kivu province

Widuhaye Jacqueline, 44, lives in Mudja camp but says she was not aware of mpox, despite thousands of cases in the DRC

Namwana Ndoole, 35, arrived at the Mudja camp from the town of Kiwanja, 43 miles (70km) from Goma. She was also unaware of mpox. Congo’s health minister, Samuel-Roger Kamba, said this week there were 16,700 mpox cases in the DRC and ‘a little more than 570 deaths’

The NGO Medair has set up a dispensary for those diagnosed with mpox at the nearby Munigi health centre

A child peeks out from behind the opening to one of the dispensary tents, which bears a poster warning about the disease, previously called monkeypox

The dispensary at work treating patients

A medic at the Munigi health centre

Ten-year-old Espoir with the telltale spots that show he has mpox. An estimated 8,772 children have contracted the disease in the DRC since the beginning of the year

Espoir waits to be treated at the health centre. Children under 15 account for more than 70% of the mpox cases and 85% of deaths in Congo. Experts say this may reflect differences in their immune system, with high rates of malnourishment leaving children vulnerable to infections

Daily life in Munigi

Three-year-old Zainamba, who has been diagnosed with mpox at the Munigi health centre. Mpox is an infectious disease caused by a virus. Flu-like symptoms including fever, chills and muscle aches are typically followed by a rash that starts as raised spots, which turn into blisters. These eventually form scabs

Zainamba is quarantined in the Munigi health centre

Foibé, who is eight months old, was cured of mpox but still bears the scars left by the spots caused by the disease

Foibé’s mother, Asifiwe Kitoko, 23, who lives in the Idp Mudja camp, with her daughter

Aphonsine Rwanika, 45, is displaced and has seen her two children, Marceline, three, and Jordan, one, go down with mpox. Both have been cured

Marceline after recovering from mpox

Marceline shows her mpox scars

Louise, six, has mpox. She and her mother were displaced before coming to Munigi

Kavura Solange, 30, lives in the Mudja camp. She has been free of mpox for a week

Kavura Solange shows the effects of the disease on her arms