Thousands of refugees targeted with Mpox vaccine

 At least 150,000 refugees and displaced people in Kenya are targeted to receive Mpox vaccination.

 This is according to a funding request by the International Organization for Migration, which works among refugees, displaced people and host communities.  

The Nairobi-based office requested Sh94.2 million ($730,000) from donors to cover such activities in Kenya.

Migrants, internally displaced people and highly mobile populations tend to be at greater risk of infection due to their living conditions and transitory lifestyles.

“The spread of Mpox across East, Horn and Southern Africa is a grave concern, especially for the vulnerable migrant, highly mobile populations and displaced communities often overlooked in such crises,” said Amy Pope, IOM director general.

“We must act swiftly to protect those at the highest risk and to mitigate the impact of this outbreak on the region.”   

The organisation is targeting 1,960,000 people in Kenya, Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eswatini, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, South Africa, Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania and Zimbabwe.

In total, IOM requires $18.5 million to respond to the needs of these people in the target countries.

 “The funding would further build the capacity of national health-care workers and front-line responders and enable the identification of high-risk areas to ensure effective monitoring of the disease and reduce its spread across borders,” the organisation said in a statement.

To date, there are over 15,000 suspected cases in the DRC alone, including 537 deaths, according to the World Health Organization.

Other cases have been confirmed in Kenya, Burundi, Rwanda, South Africa and Uganda.

The disease is transmitted from animals to humans and spread by close contact with infected individuals or animals, through respiratory droplets, blood, body fluids, or lesions.

Symptoms include fever, rash, headaches, sore throat, muscle aches, swollen lymph nodes and back aches.  

Separately, the Ministry of Health on Monday said Kenya will receive 2 million doses from the Denmark-based Nordic manufacturing company by December.

“But the vaccine will not be everybody because of the scarcity in terms of availability, so we will prioritise the population to be put at the forefront for vaccine administration,” Director-General Patrick Amoth said on Monday.

Kenya’s Health CS Deborah Mlongo said the ministry is already implementing other interventions before the country receives vaccines.

“We have strengthened communication through continuous engagement with stakeholders and the community, which has helped bridge the knowledge gap among the public,” she said on Monday.

Surveillance at all points of entry has been increased. 

“Over 300,000 travellers have been screened. The diligence of our surveillance teams ensured that the only confirmed case was detected early,” she said.

Kenya reported its sole case on July 31.

“The patient’s contacts were followed up and none developed the disease. Additionally, the ministry has followed and tested 29 suspected cases, of which all have tested negative.”

The patient was a 42-year-old long-distance truck driver, who lives in Kinoo estate, Kiambu county, the ministry said.

He had travelled from Kampala to Mombasa on July 12. He was travelling to Tanzania at the time of detection at the Taveta border crossing.

“The good news is that the patient has fully recovered,” Mlongo said.

“Testing of suspected cases is currently being conducted at the Ministry of Health National Public Health laboratories in collaboration with partner institutions such as Kemri,” she added.

The disease primarily affects children and data show an aggregated case fatality rate of 3.6 per cent. 

The outbreak is sustained largely, but not exclusively, through transmission linked to sexual contact and amplified in networks associated with commercial sex and sex workers.

DRC, the source of the current outbreak, will receive its vaccines next week, reducing the risk to its neighbours.

Its Health minister Samuel Kamba said they would need 3.5 million doses and that Japan and the United States had pledged some.