DAKAR (Reuters)

Over $800 million has been pledged to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) for its fight against a surging mpox outbreak on the continent, the agency’s head stated on Thursday, noting that the amount was higher than expected.

The agency had previously committed to raising $600 million against mpox, which was declared a global health emergency in mid-August after a new strain began spreading from the Democratic Republic of Congo to neighboring countries.

Africa has reported over 32,000 suspected mpox cases, including 840 deaths so far this year, according to Africa CDC data.

Jean Kaseya, director general of Africa CDC, informed reporters that the agency received pledges totaling $814 million to support its response plan. With additional support, this amount could rise to around $1 billion.

A significant portion of this funding will come from the U.S., contributing $500 million and 1 million vaccine doses to the response effort.

Africa CDC will also receive approximately $314 million from a mpox fund that has been established to collect contributions from member states and partners. This amount includes $129 million from the pandemic fund.

The agency has secured 4.3 million vaccine doses of the more than 10 million needed to control this outbreak, Kaseya noted.

Additional funds have been provided by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness, which contributed around $72 million for vaccine development and $145 million for expanding manufacturing capacity in Africa, particularly in Rwanda.

Kaseya indicated that Africa CDC would need to adapt its response plan as the outbreak spreads and impacts more countries. “We’ll redistribute this funding based on discussions with all partners to ensure that all affected and high-risk countries receive appropriate support against mpox,” Kaseya stated.