Mpox is a public health concern in eastern DR Congo. It continues to cause substantial numbers of hospital admissions, with changing demographics including children and adolescents, requiring comprehensive clinical and epidemiological investigation. In this study, we aim to describe the clinical characteristics of hospitalised participants infected with monkeypox virus (MPXV) subclade Ib/2023sh in the Kabare Territory in South Kivu, DR Congo. This observational cohort study included patients admitted with suspected mpox to the reference centre of mpox treatment at Lwiro Hospital, South Kivu, DR Congo. Eligible participants must have had, at the time of inclusion, skin lesions compatible with the infection. Individuals who did not present lesions compatible with MPXV infection were also eligible if they had at least one of the following symptoms: fever, cervical lymphadenopathy, or pharyngitis, provided they had been in contact with someone with suspected mpox within the last 21 days. Data from hospital records and standardised clinical forms captured demographics, presenting symptoms and signs, outcomes, and general clinical characteristics. Descriptive analyses and statistics summarised the clinical and epidemiological profiles of participants with molecular confirmation of MPXV subclade Ib/2023sh. Between Aug 3, 2024, and Feb 8, 2025, MPXV subclade Ib/2023sh was detected in 494 (77%) of 643 participants with a median age of 9 years (IQR 2-24). Participants who were positive for MPXV subclade Ib/2023sh infection were more often female (290 [59%]) and were generally older (median 16 years [4-25]) than male participants (204 [41%]; median age 4 years [1-14]). 300 (61%) of 494 participants were aged 15 years or younger. Fever (444 [90%]), skin lesions or rash (391 [79%]), and dysphagia (279 [56%]) were the most prevalent symptoms. Children aged 0-5 years had a higher frequency of lesions on the head (84 [41%] of 203), face (67 [33%]), neck (23 [11%]), back (27 [13%]), arm (35 [17%]), palm of hand (35 [17%]), chest (46 [23%]), posterior aspect of thighs (40 [20%]), legs (25 [12%]), dorsal foot (45 [22%]), and oral cavity (37 [18%]). 117 (24%) participants had lesions in the oral cavity. Oral cavity and oropharynx swabs were able to detect MPXV subclade Ib/2023sh in the absence of assayable skin lesions. The high proportion of children and adolescents (aged ≤15 years) differentiates our cohort from other clinical descriptions of the novel MPXV subclade Ib/2023sh. Given that, we hypothesise a demographic shift in the target population that contributes to the community spread of mpox in the South Kivu region of DR Congo. Targeted public health measures should consider ways to reduce transmission among children and adolescents. Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), Canadian Foundation for Innovation, Research Nova Scotia, Dalhousie Medical Foundation, Moderna, Li-Ka Shing Foundation, European & Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP). For the French, Swahili and Mashi translations of the abstract see Supplementary Materials section.

For forty years, there has been growing uncertainty about whether Hill's horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus hilli) still persists in Nyungwe National Park, Rwanda. Only known from one small area within the National Park, R. hilli is listed as Critically Endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) based on its extremely small geographic range and presumed low number of mature individuals. Here, we present and describe bat species occurrence data contributed to the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) that we collected as part of a long-term collaborative project to rediscover this lost species. This data paper describes the conservation relevance, survey methods, and findings resulting from cave roost surveys, capture surveys, and acoustic sampling of bat echolocation activity in Nyungwe National Park and surrounding areas in southwestern Rwanda from 2013-2020. We report the discovery of an extant population of Hill's horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus hilli) in Nyungwe National Park, Rwanda, 40 years since the last reported observation of the species in 1981. We also report the first record of Lander's horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus landeri) in Nyungwe National Park, and the first record of the Damara woolly bat (Kerivoula argentata) in Rwanda. The dataset contributed to GBIF described in this paper includes 278 occurrence records from 10 bat species of 5 families detected at 71 locations in or near Nyungwe National Park, Rwanda. We include a description of the morphological descriptions of R. hilli and present the first acoustic echolocation signatures and phylogenetic information for this species.

The ongoing second-largest Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) was caused by contagious Bundibugyo virus (BDBV). So far, seven provinces of the DRC including Bas-Uele, Haut-Uele, Ituri, Nord-Kivu (North Kivu), Sud-Kivu (South Kivu), Sud-Ubangi (South Ubangi), and Tshopo provinces have confirmed cases of BDBV. Here, we report the clinical characteristics of the provincial index case of BDBV 2026 infection in South Kivu, DRC, and provide information about contacts who tested positive for BDBV. Collected clinical specimens tested with Polymerase Chain Reactions confirmed BDBV in the infected index case and its connections.

The ongoing second-largest Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is caused by contagious Bundibugyo virus (BDBV). So far, seven provinces of DRC including Bas-Uele, Haut-Uele, Ituri, Nord-Kivu (North Kivu), Sud-Kivu (South Kivu), Sud-Ubangi (South Ubangi), and Tshopo provinces have confirmed the cases of the BDBV. Here, we report the clinical characterises of the first index case of BDBV 2026 infection in South Kivu, DRC and provide information about its connections those also later found positive with the Ebola. Collected clinical specimens tested with Polymerase Chain Reactions confirmed the BDBV in the infected index case and its connections.