Africa Finally Gets Mpox Vaccines

The acting director of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (ACDC), Ahmed Ogwell, stated he hopes Mpox vaccines will finally arrive on the continent "in another two weeks, tops" after months of seeking doses.

The AP reported on February 16, 2023, the Mpox vaccines will go first to countries with acute need and the most significant overall burden, such as Congo and Nigeria. Nigeria was listed in the U.S. CDC's Watch - Level 1, Practice Usual Precautions notice issued in November 2021.

People become infected with the mpox virus through contact with the bodily fluids of infected animals or humans.

Mpox occurs throughout Central and West Africa, often near tropical rainforests. The first human case of Mpox was identified in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1970. 

In November 2022, the government of the Republic of Korea, through the Korean Disease Control and Prevention Agency, announced it would donate the first batch of the Mpox vaccine to Africa through the ACDC.

In the U.S., over 1.1 million doses of the Bavarian Nordic JYNNEOS® (MVA-BN) vaccine have been distributed since May 2022.

Since May 5, 2022, about 110 countries have reported 85,800 Mpox patients and 88 related fatalities.

The countries with the highest cumulative notification rates in Europe are Spain, Portugal, and Luxembourg. Additional Mpox outbreak news is posted at MpoxToday.

While the World Health Organization has maintained its multi-country outbreak notice, the U.S. recently discontinued its Mpox alert.