AFRICA – Emergent BioSolutions through Direct Relief, a humanitarian organisation, is set to donate Mpox vaccine to African countries as part of an international effort to prevent the transmission of the disease.
The donation of 50,000 doses is in partnership with the World Health Organization (WHO) and the US government.
The countries receiving doses are Kenya, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Burundi, Rwanda, and Uganda.
The ACAM2000 vaccine is intended primarily for use in a bioterrorism emergency and is indicated for active immunisation against smallpox disease in persons at high risk of smallpox infection. In addition to ACAM200, the WHO recommends using MVA-BN or LC16 vaccines.
This aid follows the WHO’s declaration that Mpox is a public health emergency of international concern and the African Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) ‘s statement that It is now a public health emergency of continental security.
“As the WHO has declared, the mpox outbreak is a public health emergency of international concern. Emergent is ready to scale up response efforts and partner with U.S. and global public health leaders,” said Joe Papa, President and CEO of Emergent BioSolutions.
“In the meantime, 50,000 doses of ACAM2000 vaccine will be donated to help control the outbreak across the African continent.”
Mpox is a disease caused by infection with the mpox virus, which belongs to the same family of viruses as variola, which causes smallpox.
Since July 2024, pox cases have been detected in four countries neighbouring the DRC that had not previously reported cases of mpox, including Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda. According to the Ministry of Health, one case has been confirmed and more than 302,000 travellers have been screened.
The virus has two main variants, Clade I, which is currently spreading in Africa but in an altered version called Clade Ib, and Clade II, which spread in the previous outbreak that mostly affected countries such as the United Kingdom. The ongoing surge has affected chiefly African countries, especially the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Outside Africa, Sweden and Pakistan have since reported their first cases of the Clade Ib virus type. So far, more than 14,000 cases in Africa alone have been reported, leading to about 456 deaths from the continent with infections drawn from 15 African countries.
Amref, in collaboration with the Africa CDC and the Gates Foundation, will buy and deliver diagnostics supplies to about 12 African countries that have been affected by the disease.
The World Health Organisation has since issued an Emergency Use Listing that will see manufacturers share their vaccines that have not yet been prequalified but are allowed in the market because of an existing public health emergency.
Mpox is a zoonotic disease, meaning that it can pass from an animal infected with the pox virus to a human being.
People with the virus can spread it to fellow human beings when they use items like clothes and utensils and through sexual contact. The symptoms of the disease last for about two weeks, and some can extend to a month.
Sign up to receive our email newsletters with the latest news updates and insights from Africa and the World HERE
