Congo hopes to receive first mpox vaccines by next week

FILE PHOTO: A laboratory nurse takes a sample from a child declared a suspected case of Mpox at the treatment centre in Munigi, Democratic Republic of the Congo July 19, 2024. REUTERS/Arlette Bashizi/File Photo

(Reuters) -Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) hopes to receive its first doses of an mpox vaccine by next week, following promises from the United States and Japan to help it fight its outbreak, the Congolese health minister said on Monday.

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.