"Monkeypox, Africa Already in Emergency...No Donated Vaccines Yet"

All Confirmed Infection Cases in England Show Skin Lesions

On the 27th of last month, an official at the National Medical Center in Jung-gu, Seoul, is mixing a freeze-dried monkeypox vaccine with an adjuvant. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Jung-wan] African health officials have declared monkeypox an emergency on the African continent and urged wealthy countries to share the vaccine.

According to the AP News on the 3rd, Ahmed Ogwell, acting director of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said, "Monkeypox represents an emergency for us," adding, "We want to respond to monkeypox as an emergency so as not to cause more suffering."

Monkeypox has been endemic in Central and West Africa for decades, but many cases went undetected due to a lack of laboratory diagnostic capacity and weak surveillance systems.

So far this year, African countries have reported about 1,800 suspected cases of monkeypox. Among these, over 70 people have died, and only 109 cases have been confirmed by laboratories.

The World Health Organization (WHO) reported that monkeypox has spread to countries on the African continent where it had not been previously reported, including South Africa, Ghana, and Morocco. However, according to Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa, more than 90% of infections on the continent are known to have occurred in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Nigeria.

Director Moeti stated that considering the limited global supply of monkeypox vaccines, WHO is currently negotiating with manufacturers and vaccine stockpiling countries about sharing. She emphasized, "We hope that the global spotlight on monkeypox will be an opportunity to permanently eradicate this disease in Africa."

African health officials stressed that there should be no inequality in vaccine access like during the COVID-19 pandemic. Fiona Braka, head of WHO Africa's emergency response team, said, "We still do not have donated vaccines provided to poor countries," adding, "Countries that stockpile vaccines are mainly reserving them for their own citizens."

Meanwhile, on the 1st (local time), researchers from Chelsea & Westminster Hospital in London and others reported research findings that monkeypox patients show different symptoms than before, such as having many lesions around the genitals and anus but less fever.

The researchers examined 54 infected individuals, accounting for 60% of all cases in the UK, who visited sexual health clinics in London between May 14 and 25. All were men who had sex with men, with an average age of 41.

According to the study, 67% complained of fatigue, and 57% had a fever. All had skin lesions, and 94% had lesions around the anus and genitals. Nine percent required hospitalization due to pain or localized cellulitis, and there were no deaths. Twenty-five percent were infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and 25% had other sexually transmitted infections.

The researchers stated, "Monkeypox can be mistaken for common sexually transmitted infections such as herpes or syphilis, so its definition needs to be reconsidered," adding, "Currently, one-sixth of monkeypox infections do not meet the existing criteria."