Emergent to donate 50,000 vaccine doses to address mpox outbreak in Africa (updated)
19/08/2024 22:33
(Adds background in paragraphs 2-3)
Aug 19 (Reuters) - Emergent BioSolutions EBS.N said on
Monday it would donate 50,000 doses of its vaccine, ACAM2000, to
the Democratic Republic of the Congo and other impacted
countries of Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda to address the
current mpox outbreak.
The World Health Organization last week declared mpox a
global public health emergency for the second time in two years
as a new variant of the disease, known as clade Ib, spread
rapidly in Africa.
Emergent's vaccine, approved for smallpox, has been used as
an mpox shot but the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is yet to
approve its application for use against the virus.
(Reporting by Christy Santhosh in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi
Majumdar)
((Christy.Santhosh@thomsonreuters.com;))