The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has just received an additional 50,000 mpox vaccine doses from the United States, enhancing its efforts to tackle the ongoing outbreak.
This latest donation raises the total number of vaccines supplied to the DRC to 265,000, with 200,000 coming from the European Union.
As the epicenter of the current mpox epidemic, the DRC has reported over 21,500 cases and 700 deaths. The vaccines, produced by Bavarian Nordic, are already approved for adults in Europe and the US, and the company is working to expand approval for teenagers aged 12-17.
In response to the surge in the new Clade 1b strain, the World Health Organization declared an international emergency in August. Both Clade 1b and Clade 1a strains are active in the country.
Mpox spreads through close physical contact, causing symptoms like fever, muscle aches, and skin lesions.
