Spain has announced its decision to donate 500,000 doses of the Mpox vaccine to countries in Central Africa that are currently experiencing a surge in cases.
This donation represents 20% of Spain’s total Mpox vaccine reserves. The Spanish government’s statement, however, did not specify which Central African nations would receive the vaccines or when the doses would be delivered.
The Spanish health ministry emphasized the importance of international solidarity in combating the outbreak, urging other European Union member states to also donate 20% of their Mpox vaccine stockpiles.
The ministry argued that it “makes no sense to stockpile vaccines where there is no problem.” In addition to Spain’s commitment, France and Germany have each pledged to donate 100,000 doses of the Mpox vaccine to countries facing the crisis.
Mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, is an infectious disease transmitted to humans by infected animals and can spread from human to human through close physical contact. Symptoms include fever, muscle pains, skin lesions, and, in some cases, death.
The recent resurgence of Mpox, along with the detection of a new strain named Clade 1b in the Democratic Republic of Congo, led the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare its highest international alert level on August 14.
Outbreaks of Mpox have been reported in Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda since July. While no cases have been reported in Spain, a case involving the Clade 1b variant was recently detected in Sweden in a patient who had traveled to an affected African country.