Mpox virus: Doctors Without Borders see alarmingly rapid spread

The World Health Organization (WHO) is calling for an expansion of the production of vaccines against the Mpox virus. Manufacturers must “really ramp up production so that we have access to many, many more vaccines,” said WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris on Friday. Countries that have vaccine stocks should also donate them to countries affected by the outbreak.

The WHO declared the highest level of alert on Wednesday due to the spread of the new Mpox variant 1b in several African countries. There are already effective vaccines against Mpox: Harris said that the Danish-German vaccine manufacturer Bavarian Nordic has a stock of 500,000 doses of its MVA-BN vaccine, which is sold under the name Imvanex. A further 2.4 million doses could be produced quickly if orders are placed.

Mpox vaccines needed for poorer countries

The LC16 vaccine is also being produced in Japan, but it is not sold commercially, but is only manufactured on behalf of the Japanese government. “There is a significant stock of this vaccine,” Harris added. The WHO is already in contact with the Japanese government to facilitate the distribution of vaccine doses.

Doctors Without Borders also called on countries with vaccine stocks to donate “as many doses as possible” to the affected countries in Africa – especially to the Democratic Republic of Congo. “In addition to the latest mutation, we are also concerned about the fact that the disease has emerged in the refugee camps around Goma, where people live in very close quarters and the disease could spread rapidly,” said Jasmin Behrends, the organization’s global health expert in Germany. The aid organization also called on the pharmaceutical company Bavarian Nordic to lower its prices. The MVA-BN vaccine is unaffordable for most of the countries affected by the epidemic.

The disease, known for decades as monkeypox, can be transmitted from animals to humans through close contact, such as during sex. Symptoms include pox-like pustules on the skin, fever and aching limbs.

More than 15,600 suspected cases of infection

Experts are particularly concerned about strain 1b of the virus, which is circulating in the Democratic Republic of Congo and some other African countries. In Congo, the government has already recorded 548 deaths and more than 15,600 suspected cases of infection since the beginning of the year.

On Thursday, Sweden was the first country in Europe to report a case of infection with the virus variant 1b. The infected person is a traveler returning from the part of Africa affected by the Mpox outbreak.