“Outbreaks come and go, but opportunities like this scholarship are rare. Go to Antwerp.”

You completed your MSc in Public Health at ITM. How did you find your way to us?
PLACIDE After completing my medical degree and specialising in microbiology, I began looking for opportunities to obtain a degree from an institution abroad to strengthen my CV. At the time, there was already an established collaboration between ITM and INRB, particularly in the field of bacteriology, between Professors Jan Jacobs and Octavie Lunguya. When I expressed my interest in pursuing a master's degree, both professors encouraged me to apply to the MSc in Disease Control at ITM (one of the predecessors of today’s MPH – ed.). The first time I applied, I wasn’t accepted, which was discouraging. The following year, my professor and mentor Professor Jean-Jacques Muyembe encouraged me to try again. 

In early 2015, I was thrilled to receive my admission letter, and along with that, a scholarship. Around that time, I was offered a well-paid position supervising a mobile laboratory in Guinea during the ongoing Ebola outbreak. I faced a difficult decision: take the job in Guinea or go to ITM. When I turned to my professor for advice, he said, “Outbreaks come and go, but opportunities like this scholarship are rare. Go to Antwerp.” 

It wasn’t easy to convince my wife, but eventually we agreed it was the right choice for me. I began my master's in August 2015. There were only two Congolese students in the programme: Jean Clovis Kalobu and me. Courses were taught entirely in English, which was challenging. We worked tirelessly, especially on weekends, while classmates went sightseeing. But in the end, the effort paid off.

Fast-forward to the 2022–23 mpox outbreak, when cases resurged in the DRC and then, for the first time, spread all over the world. How did INRB respond?
PLACIDE INRB has played a central role in mpox research and response in the DRC, long before the disease gained global attention. As early as 2002–2003, INRB was engaging international scientists in collaborative research on mpox. Over the years, we’ve published extensively to highlight that, while often overlooked, mpox remains endemic in several regions, particularly in Central Africa. 

Even during periods of global neglect, we remained committed to diagnostic development, epidemiological research, and drug efficacy studies. This was done in close collaboration with partners such as ITM and NIH in the US. Most recently, we made a significant breakthrough with the discovery of a new viral clade, clade 1b, together with ITM.

What does the discovery of clade 1b mean? How is it different?
PLACIDE There are two types of mpox: clade 1, mostly prevalent in the Congo Basin and Central Africa, and clade 2, the less severe type, which is prevalent in West Africa. Until recently, mpox was considered primarily a zoonotic disease—transmitted from animals to humans— with only very limited human-to-human transmission, which meant outbreaks were typically short-lived and self-contained. That perception shifted in 2022, when clade 2b was linked to large-scale human-to-human transmission, especially via sexual contact. 

The discovery of clade 1b in 2024 is significant because it shows that even the Central African strain, once thought to be strictly zoonotic, can mutate and spread between people. That’s a turning point. We’ve observed infections among adolescents and adults, with evidence pointing to sexual transmission as well. This not only deepens our understanding of the virus but also complicates outbreak control strategies.

What do you foresee for mpox case trends in the future?
PLACIDE: It depends on our actions. Right now, infrastructure and diagnostics are lacking. Vaccines are limited, and even in non-endemic countries, mpox still circulates silently. If immunity is low, we may see more outbreaks. 

To address this, we urgently need effective treatments, studies on vaccine efficacy, and a clearer understanding of how long protection lasts. Strengthening health systems and investing in community awareness are equally crucial. If we implement these strategies, we might be able to limit the scale and impact of future epidemics.