People collect water from taps at the Muja camp for the internally displaced persons amid an outbreak of Mpox, an infectious disease 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.Arlette Bashizi/Reuters
Mass vaccinations against mpox could begin as early as next week in the hardest-hit African countries as the latest outbreak of the viral infection continues to expand, health officials say.
African governments are rushing to acquire vaccines, with the first supplies expected in the next few days. Japan and the United States have promised to supply vaccines to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where more than 90 per cent of African cases have occurred.
About 1,400 new cases of mpox – formerly known as monkey pox – have been reported in several African countries over the past week, bringing the total number of cases to more than 18,900 on the continent this year, twice as many as in the same period last year. More than 540 deaths have been reported.
Have questions about mpox? Submit them here for our health columnist to answer
Most cases this year are a deadlier variant of mpox, unlike the milder variant that spread globally in 2022. The World Health Organization responded to the latest outbreak by declaring a global emergency last week.
A case of the more severe variant was detected in Sweden last week, the first to be reported outside Africa. The WHO, in newly released recommendations this week, is calling for stronger cross-border surveillance for mpox. But the WHO and other health agencies oppose any restrictions on travel or trade, which would disproportionally hurt Africa.
“Don’t punish Africa,” said Jean Kaseya, director-general of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, in a briefing on Tuesday.
He said he was worried by reports that some governments are considering travel restrictions. “Stop thinking of travel bans against Africans,” he said. “That will bring us back to the unfair treatment in COVID times.”
Mpox is largely spread by skin-to-skin contact, but can also be transmitted by contaminated clothing, bedding or cooking utensils. More than half of cases in Congo, and most of the deaths, are among children.
“The evidence indicates that children, especially those malnourished or affected by other illnesses, are the most vulnerable to catching and dying from this strain of mpox,” said Gilles Fagninou, regional director in West and Central Africa for the United Nations children’s agency, Unicef, in a statement on the weekend.
“The mpox outbreak is overwhelming a healthcare system already weakened by previous epidemics,” he said. “Without immediate action and additional funding, the consequences for children will be severe.”
Dr. Kaseya said the Africa CDC is aiming to mobilize 10 million vaccine doses for the current outbreak, although it might not reach the goal until late next year.
Canada has a large stockpile of mpox vaccines after signing a US$470-million contract with a manufacturer in 2022. The federal government will not disclose the number of doses in the stockpile, but – based on publicly available information – it has at least two million doses, according to Doctors Without Borders Canada.
Earlier this month, federal officials said they had no plans to share the stockpile. But late last week, the Public Health Agency of Canada said it is “actively working” with an international vaccine alliance to consider possible vaccine donations or other measures to help African countries.
Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly has made no mention of vaccine donations during the early days of her visit to two African countries this week. On Monday, however, she visited a vaccination centre in Ivory Coast and announced $1-million in new Canadian funding for the WHO’s emergency response to mpox in Africa. The money will help with surveillance, diagnostic capacity, research and community engagement.
African leaders say the world should have taken steps to boost vaccine supplies in Africa when the previous global emergency was declared in 2022. But no vaccines were obtained on the continent, and instead its leaders are now racing to find vaccines to respond to the latest surge of cases.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, who heads an African Union pandemic prevention effort, said this week that there must be “equitable access” to vaccines, treatments and diagnostics.
The latest declaration of a global emergency “must be different and correct the unfair treatment from the previous one declared in 2022, where vaccines and therapeutics were developed and made available primarily to Western countries, with little support extended to Africa,” he said in a statement.