The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared mpox a global public health emergency.

 

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC), its highest level of alert, due to a new variant of the mpox viral disease in Africa.

On Wednesday, the WHO announced that mpox cases have been identified in 13 African countries and that a new variant is spreading. This marks the second time in two years the organization has issued this alert for the disease.

Following an outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the infection has spread to neighboring countries.

"Today, the emergency committee met and advised me that the situation constitutes a public health emergency of international concern. I have accepted that advice," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a news conference. "This is something that should concern us all."

"WHO is committed in the days and weeks ahead to coordinate the global response, working closely with each of the affected countries, and leveraging our on-the-ground presence to prevent transmission, treat those infected, and save lives," Tedros added.

The PHEIC declaration can accelerate research, funding, and international public health measures and cooperation to contain the disease. It triggers emergency responses in countries worldwide under the legally binding International Health Regulations.

Mpox can spread through close contact between individuals. While usually mild, it can be fatal in rare cases. It causes flu-like symptoms and pus-filled lesions on the body. The DRC outbreak began with a strain known as clade I, but a new variant, clade Ib, appears to be spreading more easily.

The strain has so far been detected in Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda. Earlier this week, Africa’s top public health body declared an mpox emergency for the continent after warning that the viral infection was spreading at an alarming rate. More than 17,000 suspected mpox cases and 517 deaths have been reported on the African continent so far this year, a 160 percent increase in cases compared with the same period last year, according to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

Speaking to Al Jazeera, Ngashi Ngongo, the chief of staff of the regional health body, said an agreement had been reached with the EU’s health task force and mpox vaccine manufacturer Bavarian Nordic to provide an initial 215,000 doses of the vaccine to Africa. Negotiations are ongoing to secure two million doses by the end of the year and ten million by the end of 2025.

“We are also planning to saturate the media, both television and radio, to ensure that everyone who has access to these media can receive the message,” Ngongo said. “But remember that 96 percent of cases are in the DRC, and 60 percent of those cases are among young people below the age of 18,” he added. “So we’re also using social media to reach the young people.”

This is the second alert in two years. A different form of the mpox virus – clade IIb – spread globally in 2022, largely through sexual contact among men who have sex with men. The WHO declared a public health emergency, which lasted from July 2022 to May 2023. The outbreak, which has now largely subsided, caused approximately 140 deaths out of about 90,000 cases.