New consortium launched to combat Mpox outbreak in Africa

University College Dublin (UCD) is leading MpoxVax AFRIVAC, a new €1.3 million international consortium that aims to rapidly deploy technology and develop new knowledge to end the current Mpox outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and surrounding countries.

Professor Patrick Mallon, Director of the UCD Centre for Experimental Pathogen Host Research (CEPHR) and Professor of Microbial Diseases at UCD School of Medicine, is the Lead Coordinator of the consortium and Professor Bruce Kirenga from the Makerere University Lung Institute in Kampala, Uganda is the Scientific Coordinator.

MpoxVax AFRIVAC (Expanding a prospective, clinical trial examining the immune response of participants receiving Modified Vaccinia Ankara vaccine to Africa) will expand a trial exploring the effectiveness of Mpox vaccination that is currently running in Ireland to additional countries in Africa that are affected by an ongoing outbreak of Mpox infection. The consortium brings leading experts from 6 Partner institutions in Ireland, DRC, Tanzania, Uganda and the UK together to tackle this public health emergency.

Funding for the 30-month initiative has been granted by the European Commission's European & Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (Global Health EDCTP3).

The Mpox epidemic in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is accelerating at an alarming rate, and a significant number of cases have been reported beyond DRC's borders. The surge has led the World Health Organisation (WHO) to issue its highest global health alert - a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC). According to the latest available data, the cumulative number of cases in DRC for 2024 is over 20,000, including over 600 deaths, with cases reported in 13 countries across the African continent.

The MpoxVax trial currently running in Ireland and funded by the Health Research Board (HRB) examines the immune response to Mpox vaccination (MVA-BN vaccine). Led by Professor Eoin Feeney, Clinician Academic at UCD and Consultant Physician in Infectious Diseases at St. Vincent's University Hospital, the trial is opening five sites in Ireland coordinated through the Infectious Diseases Clinical Trials Network Ireland (ID-CTNI). The ID-CTNI includes St James' Hospital, Galway University Hospital, the Mater Misericordiae University Hospital, Cork University Hospital and Beaumont Hospital.

Professor Mallon said, "As part of the MpoxVax trial at UCD CEPHR we have developed a new assay to measure immune responses to Mpox vaccination. The MpoxVax AFRIVAC project will enable us to transfer this novel technology to improve clinical research infrastructure and the conduct of vaccine trials in affected areas in Africa. The MpoxVax trial will directly contribute to international research that translates to enhanced responses to global health threats, building on learnings from the COVID19 pandemic."

MpoxVax AFRIVAC will build on the data and experience currently being gained from MpoxVax in Ireland to further examine and compare immune responses to vaccination for prevention of Mpox in critically important at-risk groups in Africa."

Professor Eoin Feeney, Chief Investigator of the MpoxVax trial in Ireland

Professor Bruce Kirenga, Chair of the Interdisciplinary Consortium for Epidemic Research (ICER) based at Makerere University and Scientific Coordinator of the project said, "This trial is uniquely important as it will study the immune responses to the vaccine already earmarked for epidemic control in affected countries; in many instances vaccines deployed in Africa have had their early phases done in other settings. There are many reasons why immune responses could differ ranging from genetics to different immune priming from many infections endemic in Africa. This trial will provide this data that could help refine how the vaccine is used."

The MpoxVax AFRIVAC consortium partner institutions are UCD; Makerere University Lung Institute (MLI), Uganda; Universite Catholique de Bukavu (UCB) Democratic Republic of Congo; National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR)-Mbeya Medical Research Centre, Tanzania; University of St Andrews (USTAN), UK; and the Uganda National Health Research Organisation (UNHRO) - Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI).