The acting director of the African Union's (AU) dependent public health agency, Ahmed Ogwell, said he could not give details about the negotiations, but said the partners are "largely multilateral institutions and non-African governments.

There are no discussions with the private sector because all the available doses have already been purchased by the countries, he stressed.

Ahmed Ogwell stressed, however, that there is already a clinical trial for a vaccine, Jynneos, underway in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRCongo), which is under emergency use authorization.

The two-dose vaccine is so far considered the main medical weapon against the disease, but its availability is limited. The Africa CDC did not immediately respond to a question about the details of this trial.

So far more deaths from the monkeypox virus, commonly referred to as monkeypox, have been reported on the African continent this year than anywhere else in the world.

As of May, nearly 90 countries have recorded more than 31,000 cases. But at least 2,947 smallpox cases have been recorded in 11 African countries this year, including 104 deaths, although most cases are suspect because the African continent also lacks sufficient diagnostic resources for full testing, the Africa CDC director said.

Lack of vaccine doses and scarcity of diagnostic means are the challenges that the 54 countries in Africa have faced for months in relation to Covid-19, while wealthier countries on other continents raced to secure supplies.

The Africa CCD director was speaking at a time when US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in the final stages of a visit to three African countries, where he articulated a new Washington strategy to engage with sub-Saharan African nations as "equal partners."

Earlier this week, Blinken was in DR Congo, which has many of the 136 new cases of monkeypox reported across the continent last week.

The World Health Organization (WHO)classified the growing outbreak of the once-rare monkeypox disease as an international emergency in July and the US declared a national emergency last week.

Outside Africa, 98% cases occur in men who have sex with people of the same sex. (Lusa)