The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is at the epicenter of an mpox outbreak declared a global health emergency last week by WHO, with the deadlier clade Ib strain that is spreading quickly in the country detected in at least four other African nations.
“We didn’t start vaccinations yet. We’ll start in a few days if we are sure that everything is in place. End of next week, vaccines will start to arrive in DRC and other countries,” Africa CDC Director General Jean Kaseya told a briefing on Tuesday.
The viral disease, formerly known as monkeypox, can spread easily between people and from infected animals through close contact such as touching, kissing or sex, as well as through contaminated materials like sheets, clothing and needles, according to WHO. Symptoms include a fever, a painful rash, headache, muscle and back pain, low energy and enlarged lymph nodes.
Around 1,400 mpox infections have been reported across Africa over the past week, bringing the total number of cases on the continent to nearly 19,000 since the start of the year – up more than 100% on the same period last year, according to the Africa CDC. The latest outbreak has killed more than 500 people, the agency’s latest available data shows.
That’s prompted a scramble for vaccines as health officials in Africa work with overseas partners to meet a massive shortfall of doses.
“We need to have vaccines,” Kaseya told NPR last week. “Today, we are just talking about almost 200,000 doses (becoming) available. We need at least 10 million doses. The vaccine is so expensive — we can put it around $100 per dose. There are not so many countries in Africa that can afford the cost of this vaccine.”
The European Union and Danish vaccine maker Bavarian Nordic have so far pledged support, the European Commission said last week. Japan and the United States have also offered doses, Reuters reported, citing the DRC’s health minister.
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