Spain will give 500,000 Mpox vaccine shots to central African countries experiencing an increase in infections, the government announced Tuesday.
The doses represent 20% of Spain’s entire mpox vaccine reserves, according to a statement from the health ministry, which did not indicate which countries in the region would receive the vaccines or when.
Spain also urged its European Union counterparts to follow suit and give 20% of their mbox vaccine stockpile, claiming that “it makes no sense to stockpile vaccines where there is no problem,” according to the statement.
France and Germany have both indicated that they will give 100,000 mpox vaccination shots to countries affected by the outbreak.
Previously known as monkeypox, mpox is an infectious illness caused by a virus transferred to humans by infected animals. The virus can also be spread from human to human through intimate physical contact.
It causes fever, muscle pain, skin lesions, and, in an increasing number of instances, death.
The recurrence of the disease, as well as the discovery of a new strain, known as Clade 1b, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, prompted the World Health Organization to issue its highest worldwide warning level on August 14.
Since July, outbreaks have been recorded in Kenya, Burundi, Rwanda, and Uganda.
No cases of mpox have been reported in Spain. The Swedish Public Health Agency stated earlier this month that it has registered a case of the Clade 1b type of mpox.
While this was the first occurrence in Europe, the patient became infected after a vacation to an impacted African country.