A Congolese health official vaccinates a man against mpox, a key step in efforts to stop the outbreak spreading from its epicenter at a hospital in Goma, North Kivu province, in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Photo courtesy: Reuters
More than 50,000 people have been vaccinated so far mpox In the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda, the head of the World Health Organization said on Friday, November 1, 2024.
The African Union’s health watchdog warned a day earlier that the outbreak was still not under control, and appealed for resources to avoid a pandemic worse than COVID-19.
More than 1,100 people have died from mpox in Africa, where nearly 48,000 cases have been reported since January, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC).
Most of the deaths have occurred in DRC, the epicenter of the outbreak, which began a vaccination campaign last month.
“Thanks to donations from the United States and the European Commission, more than 50,000 people have so far been vaccinated against mpox in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters. He also said that this week, about 900,000 vaccine doses were allocated to nine countries under the mechanism set up by WHO and its partners. He said the countries concerned were to be informed on Friday.
“This is the first allocation of approximately six million vaccine doses that we expect to be available through the Access and Allocation Mechanism (AAM) by the end of 2024,” the WHO chief said.
Mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, is caused by a virus transmitted by infected animals to humans that can also spread from humans to humans through close physical contact.
Related to smallpox, the viral illness causes fever, body aches, swollen lymph nodes, and a rash that turns into blisters.
published – November 02, 2024 03:16 PM IST