Russia’s public health watchdog has effective vaccine against mpox

MOSCOW, RUSSIA | TASS | The Vector Center of the Russian Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing has a vaccine for the prevention of mpox, previously known as monkeypox, the agency’s press service told reporters.

“In 2022, the Vector Center of the Russian Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing registered a fourth-generation vaccine Orthopoxvac which is a cutting-edge world-class compound. This vaccine is also designated for the prevention of mpox which is an orthopoxvirus,” it said in a statement.

It specified that the development of the vaccine began in 2009 and went through all stages. A patent was obtained in 2022.

The vaccine is based on a weakened live virus of a smallpox vaccine. It is a genetic composition that forms a stable immunity with a high safety profile, the press service noted.

The public health watchdog added that researchers from the Vector Center have also developed and registered a PCR system to diagnose smallpox and mpox infections as well as a drug to treat these diseases.

About virus

Mpox is a rare viral disease which is endemic to remote regions near tropical forests of Central and Western Africa. The first case of the animal-to-human transmission of this disease was recorded in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1970. According to the WHO, this virus is usually transmitted to humans by wild animals, such as rodents and primates, while its secondary spread among humans is limited. Usually the lethality coefficient during mpox outbreaks ranges from 1% to 10% with the majority of fatalities in the younger age groups.

Earlier, World Health Organization (WHO) Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus declared mpox a public health emergency of international concern.