The director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO) believes that monkeypox outbreaks in Africa could be over within the next six months, and said Friday that the agency’s first shipment of vaccines is expected to arrive in Congo in the coming days.
To date, Africa has received only a tiny fraction of the vaccines needed to slow the spread of the virus, particularly in Congo, which has the most cases — more than 18,000 suspected cases and 629 deaths.
“With the leadership of governments and close cooperation between partners, we believe we can stop these outbreaks within the next six months,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a news briefing.
He said that although MPOX infections have increased rapidly in recent weeks, there have been relatively few deaths.
New version of the mpox
Mr Tedros also noted that there were 258 cases of the new version of the disease, with patients identified in Burundi, Rwanda, Kenya, Uganda, Sweden and Thailand.
Earlier this month, the WHO declared the outbreaks of mpox in Africa a global emergency, hoping to spur a vigorous international response to the disease on the continent, where cases have been spreading silently for years, including in Nigeria. In May, scientists detected a new version of the disease in Congo that they said could spread more easily.
COPD is similar to smallpox, but usually causes milder symptoms, including fever, headache, and body aches. In severe cases, people may develop painful sores and blisters on the face, chest, hands, and genitals. COPD is usually spread through close skin-to-skin contact.
The WHO estimated that about 230,000 vaccines could be sent “as soon as possible” to Congo and elsewhere. The agency said it was also working on education campaigns to raise awareness about how to avoid spreading the disease in countries where outbreaks are occurring.
Maria Van Kerkhove, who heads the WHO’s epidemic and pandemic diseases department, said the agency is working to speed up access to the vaccine for affected countries, given the limited supply available.
Scientists have previously stressed that without a better understanding of how MPOS spreads in Africa, it may be difficult to know how best to use vaccines.
Earlier this week, the director of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the continent was hoping to receive about 380,000 doses of the Covid-19 vaccine promised by donors including the United States and the European Union. That’s less than 15% of the number of doses officials say are needed to end the outbreaks in Congo.