First mpox vaccines arrive in Africa as officials work “blindly” to contain outbreaks

Nigeria became the first country in Africa to receive mpox vaccines on 27 August with the arrival of 10 000 doses intended to help contain the viral disease which is rapidly spreading across the continent.

These and the shipments that are expected to follow should help contain mpox, although experts say there are not enough vaccines in the pipeline and that their efficacy, particularly against emerging variants, is unknown.

Health officials are also unsure which areas to target first with the scarce supplies, given that the outbreaks are complex, rapidly evolving, and there are insufficient resources to monitor them, Dimie Ogoina, professor for infectious diseases at the Niger Delta University in Nigeria told journalists.

“We are working blindly. For instance, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), less than 40% of cases are tested and laboratory confirmed,” said Ogoina, who is a member of the World Health Organization international health regulations emergency committee on mpox. “Cases in Africa are largely underreported.”

WHO declared mpox a public health emergency of international concern earlier this month because of the disease’s high mortality, high transmission rates, and rapid mutation.1 More than 20 000 cases and 582 deaths have been reported from …