LIFESAVING vaccines to help curb the Mpox outbreak in Africa may not reach the regions affected for several months, even following the declaration of a health emergency, officials have warned.

Today, the World Health Organisation (WHO) led a panel discussion on the possibility of a global threat after the African Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) declared a public health emergency of continental concern for the first time.

Currently, the outbreak affects the Democratic Republic of Congo and neighbouring countries.

Efforts to contain the situation face obstacles such as limited vaccine supply, inadequate funding and competing disease outbreaks.

Africa CDC said last week that it had been granted $10.4 million (£8.10m) in emergency funding from the African Union for its Mpox response.

Three million doses of the vaccine could be secured under plans announced by Africa CDC director-general Jean Kaseya on Tuesday, although the details are unclear.

However, the Reuters news agency reported that its sources involved in planning a vaccination rollout in Congo said that only 65,000 doses were likely to be available in the short term and campaigns were unlikely to begin before October at the earliest.

More than 15,000 suspected cases of Mpox have been recorded in Africa this year, with 461 deaths, mainly among children in Congo, according to Africa CDC.

The viral infection causes flu-like symptoms and pus-filled lesions, and there have been outbreaks in refugee camps.

Jean-Jacques Muyembe-Tamfum, who heads Congo’s National Institute for  Biomedicale Research, said: “It is important to declare an emergency because the disease is spreading.”

He said he hoped that any declaration would help provide more funding for surveillance as well as to support access to vaccines in Congo.