The organisation charged with preventing and containing emerging infectious diseases has said it will work with UK health agencies on research into vaccines for monkeypox to counter an outbreak that the World Health Organization has classified as a public health emergency.
The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations said funding would be allocated to the UK drugs regulator (MHRA) and the UK Health Security Agency to support research into vaccines being developed against monkeypox, including current smallpox vaccines. The funding aims to advance scientific tools to improve and standardise assessment of monkeypox vaccines.
More than 16,000 cases have been reported worldwide to date, mostly among men who have sex with men. WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who on Saturday announced that the outbreak had been given the highest designation under international health regulations, has said the risk in Europe from monkeypox was “high”.