EU officials are working on a potential centralised procurement deal for smallpox vaccines to be used against rising numbers of monkeypox infections in Europe, according to people familiar with the matter, as nations race to secure orders for the relatively limited number of doses available.

Monkeypox typically causes fever and skin lesions but usually clears up on its own, without treatment. The smallpox vaccine is up to 85 per cent effective in preventing a monkeypox infection, according to the World Health Organization, due to similarities in the pathogens.

Smallpox was eradicated more than four decades ago and vaccine stockpiles have been maintained to hedge against a possible resurgence. Now, global health authorities in Europe and elsewhere are gearing up to use the jab in the contacts of monkeypox cases to stem its spread.