Résumé
In recent years, the Equateur Province in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has been marked by overlapping health crises, including the zoonotic emergence and re-emergence of Ebola and Mpox, alongside outbreaks of measles, cholera, endemic malaria, and widespread malnutrition. Epidemiologists have classified the province as endemic for Mpox, indicating that animal-to-human transmission of the Mpox virus constitutes the primary mechanism of viral emergence. This is characterized by multiple introductions of the virus, often in different locations and involving probable wild animal reservoirs, followed by limited human-to-human transmission. Despite increasing efforts to understand the socio-ecological factors facilitating Mpox transmission since the 1980s, these factors remain poorly understood. This presentation draws on insights from a recent exploratory field visit conducted in December 2024 to the Bikoro Territory. This visit, in conjunction with the anthropological work of Hélène Pagezy on the dietary practices of the Ntomba and Batwa communities in the region from 1970 to 2000s, have informed two primary hypotheses for future research. First, water plays a critical role in mediating access to food resources and shaping interactions among humans, animals (notably squirrels and rodents), plants, and other non-human agents (trees, fruits, soil). Second, socio-ecological changes e since the 1970s have significantly impacted the landscape, and probably small mammal populations. What implications have these factors for the perception and incidence of Mpox in the region? These hypotheses underscore the importance of examining both environmental transformations and the socio-ecological dynamics of human-animal-plant interactions in understanding the transmission and persistence of Mpox.