The Spanish government announced on Tuesday, August 27, that it would send the equivalent of 500,000 doses of vaccines to several Central African countries to deal with the MPOX epidemic. “Spain has indicated to the European Commission that it will make a donation representing 20% of its vaccine stock, or 100,000 vials corresponding to 500,000 doses of vaccines,” explains the Spanish Ministry of Health in a press release.
Faced with the mpox epidemic, including “The epicenter is in several countries in Central Africa, the Ministry of Health considers it essential to act in this region in order to contain the current situation”the government continues, which does not specify which countries are concerned or when the vaccines will be sent. Madrid encourages its European counterparts to donate 20% of their stock in turn and not to “keep vaccines where there is no problem”.
MPOX, formerly known as “monkey pox”, is a viral disease that spreads from animals to humans but is also transmitted between humans through physical contact. It causes fever, muscle aches and skin lesions.
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Burundi and the Central African Republic are the countries most affected by the resurgence of mpox in Africa, where cases have also been reported in a dozen other countries. This has prompted the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare a “public health emergency” of international scope due to the 1b variant of the virus, which is currently more widespread and more dangerous.
Source: Lemonde
