Spain detected this Wednesday 59 cases of monkeypox and announced that it will buy vaccines and antivirals, within the framework of a joint program of the European Union (EU) to control the disease, the Government announced.
The positive cases were detected by PCR test, 20 of them confirmed by genomic sequencing, Health Minister Carolina Darias announced at a press conference, the AFP agency reported.
Although there are no specific treatments or vaccines for monkeypox, outbreaks can be controlled with smallpox vaccination, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
In total, 171 suspected cases were detected in the country.
Spain will acquire Imvanex vaccines and Tecovirimat antivirals through the European Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA), the official said.
HERA, which met this Wednesday, will make “available to member states the smallpox vaccine, in this case the Imvanex vaccine,” he said.
He added that “Spain is going to participate in this process together with the rest of the member states” to access the vaccine and “the doses will be shared equally among the member states.”
Imvanex, from the Bavarian Nordic laboratory, is a third-generation vaccine authorized in Europe since 2013 and indicated against smallpox in adults.
Monkeypox, recently reported in Europe and North America, is a rare disease native to Africa.
