WHO Declares Mpox a Global Public Health Emergency

News Desk

News York: The UN World Health Organization (WHO) declared mpox a global public health emergency on Wednesday, following ongoing warnings from health officials about the risk of its spread.

This marks the second time in two years that the WHO has issued an emergency declaration for mpox, previously known as monkeypox. The declaration follows an outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) that has spread to neighboring countries.

An emergency committee of the WHO, based in Geneva, met early Wednesday to advise WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on whether the outbreak constitutes a “public health emergency of international concern” (PHEIC), the highest level of alarm under international health law.

The WHO chief had called for the meeting last week to determine if the mpox outbreaks warrant international concern. On Tuesday, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) also declared the situation a public health emergency.

Tedros confirmed that the advice from the Emergency Committee and the Africa CDC was aligned. Mpox cases have been spreading across many African countries, particularly the DRC, as well as Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda. The potential for further spread in Africa is particularly concerning, Tedros noted.

“With outbreaks occurring in different parts of Africa and involving various clades of mpox, a coordinated international response is essential to halt these outbreaks and save lives,” Tedros said.

So far this year, over 14,000 mpox cases have been reported, with 524 deaths, marking a significant increase from 2023. Tedros explained that different viral clades are responsible for the outbreaks. Clade 1b, which emerged in the DRC last year, is particularly concerning due to its higher transmission rates and greater virulence. This clade has been mainly spread through sexual networks.

While clade 1 has circulated in the DRC for years, clade 2 was behind the global outbreak of 2022, which led to the first international public health emergency. Recently, about 90 cases of clade 1b have been reported in neighboring countries that had not previously seen mpox cases.

“Stopping these outbreaks will require a tailored and comprehensive response, with communities at the center,” Tedros emphasized. The WHO is collaborating with governments of affected countries, the Africa CDC, and other partners to understand and address the drivers of these outbreaks. This includes providing equipment for analyzing blood samples and supporting laboratories in sequencing viral samples.

Tedros assured that the WHO is committed to coordinating the global response in the coming days and weeks, working closely with each affected country to prevent transmission, treat those infected, and save lives.