WHO’s mpox response plan will help reduce disease burden, says GlobalData

In response to the mpox outbreak in Africa, the World Health Organization (WHO) has launched an international Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan (SPRP) and hosted a research response conference whereby researchers, public health officials, and stakeholders from affected countries were invited to take the lead in shaping research efforts and aligning them with outbreak response strategies.

Anaelle Tannen, Infectious Disease Analyst at GlobalData commented: “The PHEIC classification is the highest level of alert that the WHO can issue. It places the current mpox outbreak in the same category as previous outbreaks such as Covid-19 (2020), Ebola (2019) and Zika-related microcephaly (2016), which emphasises the gravity of the epidemic and underlines the need for a coordinated response to contain it.”

Since the beginning of the year, approximately 24,002 cases and 617 deaths have occurred in Africa, predominately in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), according to Africa CDC.

The SPRP covers a six-month period from September 2024 to February 2025. It necessitates global, regional, and national efforts to ensure comprehensive surveillance, prevention, advancements in access to diagnostics and treatment measures, minimising animal-human transmission, and empowering communities to actively participate in outbreak prevention and control.

Tannen added: “The WHO’s emergency declaration is hoped to spur donor agencies and countries to act and assist in accelerating access to testing, vaccines, and treatment in affected areas, as these are currently severely lacking. A funding appeal to raise US$135 million will commence shortly, and it is vital that the target is achieved to deliver supplies to impacted countries as quickly as possible.”

Strategic vaccination efforts represent a key response strategy. According to GlobalData, there are three currently available mpox vaccines, including Bavarian Nordic’s Jynneos in Europe, the US and Canada; KM Biologics’ LC16 vaccine in Japan; and Emergent BioSolutions’ ACAM2000 vaccine in the US. Up to 3.6 million doses of these vaccines have been pledged by various governments and companies to help stop the spread of mpox in Africa, the first of which have now been delivered to Nigeria. However, it is estimated that around 10 million mpox vaccine doses will be needed by 2025.

Additionally, there is a huge opportunity for developers and manufacturers to advance novel prophylactic and treatment options. Late-stage mpox vaccines of note include BioNTech’s BNT-166A and Moderna’s mRNA-1769, both of which are in Phase II.

Tannen concluded: “With vaccines in extremely short supply, vaccination strategies will focus on those at highest risk, including close contacts of recent cases and keyworkers. It is hoped that this method will most effectively interrupt transmission chains, preventing further spread of disease.”

Medair, a charity helping to support those affected by mpox recently said that under-10s are most at-risk.