Congo to receive first mpox vaccines from US & Japan amid global emergency

Days after the World Health Organization declared **mpox** outbreaks in Africa a global emergency, the United States of America and Japan will supply the first vaccine doses to Congo to address its tragedy.

In the vast central African nation of Congo, which has had more than 96% of the world’s roughly 17,000 recorded cases of mpox this year — and some 500 deaths from the disease — many of the most vulnerable seem unaware of its existence or the threat that it poses.

Congo has the vast majority of the mpox cases and currently needs 3 million vaccine doses. The U.S. and Japan have offered to donate vaccines, Health Minister Roger Kamba told journalists. He did not say how many doses would be sent or when the ones from Japan would arrive.

More from World

Nepal's new PM pays homage to people died during the Gen Z protest in her first national address This Week in Explainers: How recovering from Gen-Z protests is a Himalayan task for Nepal

The WHO has reported over 17,000 mpox cases and over 500 deaths worldwide this year. More than 96% of all cases and deaths have been in Congo, whose health system has long struggled to contain disease outbreaks over the country’s vast area and poor infrastructure. Children under 15 account for more than 70% of the cases and 85% of deaths in Congo.

Scientists are also concerned by a new version of mpox in Congo that might be more easily transmitted. Last week, Sweden reported its first case of the new version. Officials said the risk to the general public was considered “very low” and that they expected sporadic imported cases to continue.

Impact Shorts

More Shorts

‘The cries of this widow will echo’: In first public remarks, Erika Kirk warns Charlie’s killers they’ve ‘unleashed a fire’

Trump urges Nato to back sanctions on Russia, calls for 50–100% tariffs on China

Unlike in previous mpox outbreaks, where lesions were mostly seen on the chest, hands and feet, the new form causes milder symptoms and lesions on the genitals. That makes it harder to detect, meaning people might sicken others without knowing they’re infected. Mpox is not airborne and typically requires close, skin-to-skin contact to spread.

The WHO has said mpox was recently identified for the first time in four East African countries: Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda. All of those outbreaks were linked to the epidemic in Congo.

With inputs from agencies.