Emergent BioSolutions announced on Monday that it will provide 50,000 doses of its smallpox vaccine to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as well as Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda, in response to the current mpox outbreak.
The World Health Organization declared mpox a worldwide public health emergency for the second time in two years last week, as a new variant of the virus, known as clade Ib, spread fast across Africa.
At least one person in Sweden has been diagnosed with the infection, making it the first time the new type has been seen outside of Africa.
Emergent’s ACAM2000 vaccine, authorized for smallpox, has been applied as an mpox injection, but the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is yet to approve it for application for use against the virus.
According to the FDA, one in every 175 new ACAM2000 vaccine users has myocarditis/pericarditis, which is swelling in or around the heart muscle.
Instead of an injection, the shot is administered through a series of little pokes in the skin using a two-pronged needle.
The injection site produces a scab that takes 2-4 weeks to heal. Until the scab falls off, the live virus may spread to other parts of the body or persons.
ACAM2000 is not advised to be administeres on people with weakened immune systems, such as HIV patients.