The European Commission said on Tuesday it had signed an agreement on about 110,000 doses of monkeypox vaccine from Danish biotech company Bavarian Nordic.
Cases of the disease, which is endemic in parts of Africa, began appearing in Europe and the United States last month. About 900 patients are already infected in the EU alone.
The bloc’s health commissioner, Stella Kyriakides, announced the order on Tuesday, saying the contract will be purchased with EU funds and will be delivered to member states by the end of June.
Monkeypox has attracted international attention following recent outbreaks in many countries where it has never been seen before.
The deal was reached through the bloc’s health preparedness and emergency response unit (HERA), which was set up to avoid mistakes made in the EU’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Vaccines and antivirals against the disease will also be delivered to non-members of the bloc Norway and Iceland.
How bad is the last hearth?
The current international outbreak has registered more than 1,600 confirmed cases, mostly in Europe but also in North and South America, Asia, Africa and Australia.
The disease is usually detected and transmitted only in regions where it is endemic through rodent or small animal bites.
It is not usually easily spread, but is understood to be transmitted through close contact with an infected person.
Germany is considering preventive vaccines for all those who are considered to be at high risk of contact with the disease.
The high-risk category includes men who have sex with changing male partners, but also staff in specialized laboratories who work with infectious samples that contain monkeypox.
Although the disease can be fatal, it is also treatable. Symptoms include fever, headache, and pus-filled skin lesions.
The World Health Organization has called the spread of monkeypox a “deterrent situation”, with WHO spokesman Rosamund Lewis saying there was no evidence that the virus had mutated.
rc / dj (Reuters, dpa)
Add Comment