What you need to know about the virus that causes monkeypox.
Video / AP / Getty
The European Union is set to sign an agreement for the supply of 110,000 doses of monkeypox vaccines as the virus continues to spread in the Northern Hemisphere.
More than 900 cases of the killer disease have been diagnosed in the EU - which doesn't include 470 cases in the UK.
The vaccines will be delivered by an undisclosed manufacturer from the end of the month.
At a meeting of EU health ministers in Luxembourg yesterday, the European Commissioner for health and food safety confirmed the use of EU money to secure the doses.
"This is the first time that we're using EU funds to purchase vaccines that we can then distribute to member states," Stella Kyriakides said.
This 2003 electron microscope image made available by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows a monkeypox virion. Photo / File
"This shows what we can [do] when we work together and the power of having the structures in place so that we can immediately respond to a crisis such as we have now."
Kyriakides confirmed the EU had recorded 900 cases of monkeypox.
According to the latest update by the World Health Organisation (WHO), nearly 1300 cases have been confirmed in countries where the disease is not endemic.
In the EU, Spain (259 cases), Portugal (191) and Germany (113) have recorded the highest infection rates.
The UK has seen steeper rises, with 104 more cases yesterday taking the national total to 470.
According to Al Jazeera, the EU's drug regulator was in talks with Danish biotech firm Bavarian Nordic over trial data that "could underpin an extension of the approved use of the Imvanex shot, known as Jynneos in the United States, beyond smallpox to include monkeypox".
This 1997 image provided by the CDC during an investigation into an outbreak of monkeypox. Photo / File
The US regulator previously approved the manufacturer's smallpox vaccine for use against monkeypox.
The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) stressed that identifying cases was crucial to curbing the spread of the disease.
"We have seen presentations of monkeypox that are mild and sometimes only limited areas of the body, which differs from the classic presentation seen in endemic countries in Western Central Africa," said Rochelle Walensky, head of the CDC.
"This has prompted concern that some cases may go unrecognised or undiagnosed," she added, urging increased vigilance among members of the medical profession and the public.
Cases do not always present flu-like symptoms, such as fever, body aches and swollen glands that typically precede the appearance of the rash characteristic of the disease.
"It's important to be aware that monkeypox cases may present similar to some sexually transmitted infections [such as herpes] and could be mistaken for other diagnoses," Walensky said.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus last month warned that the Covid pandemic was no longer the only health crisis facing the world.
"Colleagues around the world are responding to outbreaks of ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo, monkeypox and hepatitis of unknown cause and complex humanitarian crises in Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Somalia, South Sudan, the Syrian Arab Republic, Ukraine and Yemen," he told the World Health Assembly.
"We face a formidable convergence of disease, drought, famine and war, fuelled by climate change, inequity and geopolitical rivalry."
The Monkeypox virus is spreading around Europe. Photo / Getty
The assembly marked the first time the WHO convened its 194 member states for their first largely in-person gathering since Covid-19 surfaced in late 2019.
Joe Biden weighed in on the monkeypox outbreak during a trip to Japan, saying the US has enough vaccines to deal with the virus and "extra efforts" are not needed to prevent its spread.
Monkeypox symptoms include fever, muscle aches, swollen lymph nodes, chills, exhaustion and a chickenpox-like rash on the hands and face.
No treatment exists, but the symptoms usually clear up after two to four weeks. The disease is considered endemic in 11 African nations, where the death rate is between 3 and 6 per cent.
Tedros warned important work at the assembly to address a long line of global health emergencies and challenges, including the Covid-19 crisis, could not succeed "in a divided world".
