Mpox outbreaks in Africa could be halted within six months, says health chief

A health worker attends to a mpox patient at a treatment centre in Munigi, eastern Congo (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)

The head of the World Health Organisation (WHO) believes the ongoing mpox outbreaks in Africa might be stopped in the next six months, and said on Friday that the agency’s first shipment of vaccines should arrive in Congo within days.

To date, Africa has received just a tiny fraction of the vaccines needed to slow the spread of the virus, especially in Congo, which has the most cases – more than 18,000 suspected cases and 629 deaths.