Valletta: Malta has joined other European Union (EU) member states to help Africa reduce further spread of monkeypox, the Health Ministry said on Thursday in a statement. 

Malta has joined the European Commission's "Team Europe" initiative to donate vaccines and mobilize resources to help address the public health emergency, the statement said, adding that together European countries will be donating half a million vaccines.

Malta's Health Ministry reported the first case of mpox on August 30, with the second case being registered on September 3. The first case was identified as a less severe strain of the virus known as Clade II, Xinhua news agency reported.

According to a press release issued by the European Commission, the first shipment of approximately 100,000 mpox vaccine doses will arrive in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) Thursday, with the second delivery of around 100,000 vaccines expected in the coming days. DRC is at the epicenter of the mpox outbreak.

The Africa Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) declared on August 13 the ongoing mpox outbreak in Africa as a Public Health Emergency of Continental Security. The World Health Organization (WHO) has also declared mpox a public health emergency of international concern, activating its highest level of global alert for mpox for the second time in two years.

(IANS)