Photo: Cristobal Manuel Sánchez-Rodríguez
Monkeypox cases continue to rise globally with more than 26,000 now confirmed in at least 75 different countries, including New Zealand. There is however a global shortage of vaccines to combat the outbreak, and currently they are only produced by Denmark-based manufacturer Bavarian Nordic.
The vaccine was originally developed to fight smallpox, as both viruses are part of the orthopoxvirus family. For many years it’s been assumed the vaccine was made from cowpox, but recent research by Baltimore-based vaccinologist Dr José Esparza and a team at the Robert Koch Institute in Germany have found that’s not the case.
Photo: AFP
