The spread of Mpox virus (MPXV) in Sub-Saharan Africa, specifically Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Republic of Congo (RoC) presents an urgent public health concern with global implications. MPXV cases have been reported across 114 countries with 89,752 confirmed reports and >150 deaths. It has the highest prevalence in DRC and has resulted in twice the number of deaths in the African region compared to Europe. RoC, a DRC bordering country, is also experiencing a surge in positive cases, highlighting an urgent need for data-driven efforts to identify transmission routes and implement public health initiatives. MPOX-PROBE is responding to this call for action with an international consortium and activities in three main pillars (1) improving epidemiological surveillance of Mpox with new diagnostics and sampling efforts including high-risk areas and vulnerable populations; (2) capacity building to improve diagnostic and research capacities of researchers and public health workers in DRC and RoC; (3) strengthening public health response by sharing surveillance data and newly developed spatiotemporal risk and transmission models for Mpox. Through MPOX-PROBE, this consortium will create actionable data to uncover MPXV transmission routes and natural reservoirs facilitating development of effective interventional packages. The transmission and risks models will allow prediction of future or emerging outbreaks and develop initiatives to prevent further spread. Together, these efforts will benefit vulnerable populations and general public in sub-Saharan Africa alike while also performing ground-breaking research to understand transmission mechanisms.

The recent outbreak of Ebola virus (EBOV), in particular the EBOV Sudan strain, is a major cause for concern as there are currently no available vaccines and treatments for this fatal disease. Moreover, surveillance measures are suboptimal and the social response to viral outbreaks hindered by limited acceptance of countermeasures. The Ebola PREP-TBOX consortium aims to make significant strides in developing essential tools and strategies for effective surveillance response, and control of Ebola outbreaks, fostering a safer and resilient future. Our objective is to build a toolbox permitting earliest Ebola outbreak containment. A spatiotemporal model utilizing environmental, animal reservoir, socioeconomic and human movement data will be developed enabling prediction of future outbreaks. The sensitivity of current diagnostics will be improved through innovative viral capture techniques. EBOV exposure and immune response will be tested from human-animal interface samples from the Republic of Congo (RoC), Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Uganda. New treatments for the EBOV Sudan strain will be developed by testing for broad-spectrum activity of the EBOV anti-Zaire Equine polyclonal antibody. Further, development of mosaic antigens, composed of several filovirus strains (incl. EBOV), will create new tools for broad-spectrum vaccine and therapeutic development. Conductance of knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) studies, gap analysis and targeted trainings in RoC, DRC and Uganda will improve population acceptance for future EBOV outbreak interventions. The training of African researchers by the consortium will increase local skills and competences. Ebola PREP-TBOX is an interdisciplinary and complementary consortium including partners from the Congo Basin (FCRM-RoC, INRB-RDC, UVRI-IAVI-Uganda), Prof. JJ Muyembé (Ebola discoverer 1976) and partners from Europe (Fabentech and Bacfly/CNRS-France, IMAS12-Spain) and the support of G Kobinger (GNL,US).