Africa to launch mpox vaccination campaigns within days as cases surge

ZIMSPHERE 

AFRICA could begin mpox vaccinations within days, according to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC). This comes after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared mpox a public health emergency last week due to its rapid spread.

Mpox lesions often appear on the palms of hands. [Image: CDC/United Nations]

Vaccination efforts are set to commence in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and other African nations, with vaccine doses pledged by the European Union, Bavarian Nordic, the United States, and Japan. 

Africa CDC has collaborated with affected countries on logistics and communication strategies to ensure a smooth rollout.

"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 announced during a briefing.

"We need to make sure that the supply chain management, the logistics are ready...to ensure that this vaccine will be safely stored and can be safely administered to people who need them," he added.

Ongoing studies in Africa will assess the efficacy of different vaccines to determine their suitability in various contexts. 

Children stand at the Muja camp for the internally displaced persons amid an outbreak of Mpox, an infectious disease caused by the monkeypox virus that causes a painful rash, enlarged lymph nodes and fever, in Nyiragongo territory, near Goma in North Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of Congo August 19, 2024. [Image: Reuters/Arlette Bashizi]

Over the past week, African states reported over 1,400 new mpox cases, raising the total to nearly 19,000 cases across 12 countries since the start of 2024, according to an Africa CDC presentation.

The emergence of a virulent mpox strain has led the WHO to declare a public health emergency for the second time in two years. 

Endemic to central and West Africa, the disease caused a global outbreak in 2022, prompting a WHO emergency declaration in July of that year.

Formerly known as monkeypox, mpox spreads through close person-to-person contact and occasionally via contaminated objects and surfaces. 

The virus first appeared in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1970 and was reportedly neglected there, according to WHO.

(with news agencies)