THE World Health Organization (WHO) announced today that the Mpox outbreak in Africa has escalated into a global public health emergency, issuing its highest level of alert due to the deteriorating situation.
The WHO convened a group of experts to examine the outbreak and provide recommendations to UN health agency director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
“Today, the emergency committee met and advised me that they believe the situation qualifies as a public health emergency of international concern. I have accepted that advice,” Tedros stated at a press conference.
“This is an issue that should be a concern for everyone.”
He elaborated that the WHO is committed to coordinating a global response in the coming days and weeks, working closely with affected nations, utilizing its presence on the ground to prevent spread, treat those infected, and save lives.
This declaration follows the African Union’s health authority stating a public health emergency in response to the escalating outbreak.
Mpox has significantly impacted the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where the virus, previously known as monkeypox, was first identified in humans back in 1970, and has since spread to various other countries.
Tedros pointed out that DRC has reported over 14,000 cases and 524 deaths this year alone, surpassing last year’s figures.
“The emergence of clade 1b last year and its rapid spread in the DRC, predominantly within sexual networks, along with its detection in neighboring countries, is particularly alarming and a key reason for my decision to convene this emergency committee,” he remarked during the meeting.
“In the past month, roughly 90 cases of clade 1b have been reported in four neighboring countries that previously had no cases of mpox: Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda.”
PHEIC Status
A Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) represents the highest level of alert that the WHO can issue.
Declaring a PHEIC prompts emergency measures around the globe under the legally binding International Health Regulations.
This is the second consecutive PHEIC related to mpox, though it pertains to a different and more lethal strain of the virus.
In May 2022, mpox cases surged worldwide, primarily affecting gay and bisexual men due to the clade 2b subclade. The WHO declared a public health emergency that lasted from July 2022 until May 2023, resulting in approximately 140 deaths out of nearly 90,000 cases.
The clade 1b subclade, significantly increasing in the DRC since September 2023, causes more severe illness than clade 2b, with an elevated fatality rate.
Mpox is an infectious disease caused by a virus passed from infected animals to humans but can also be transmitted between humans through close physical contact. Symptoms include fever, muscle aches, and large boil-like skin lesions.
WHO immunization experts recommend two vaccines for mpox.
A PHEIC has been declared only seven times since 2009, covering H1N1 swine flu, poliovirus, Ebola, Zika virus, a second wave of Ebola, Covid-19, and mpox.
Preparation and Resources
The director of the Pandemic and Disaster Management Centre at Erasmus University Rotterdam, Marion Koopmans, noted that a PHEIC “increases global alertness and may enable the WHO to access funds for emergency response.”
However, she cautioned that “the same priorities remain: investing in diagnostic capacity, public health response, treatment support, and vaccination,” highlighting the challenges faced by the DRC and its neighbors in terms of resources.
Despite having essential public health capacities, Koopmans pointed out that the international outbreak that began in 2022 was not contained effectively.
The Red Cross has announced plans to enhance preparedness measures across Africa, particularly in the severely affected eastern DRC.
The International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies expressed “deep concern” regarding the virus’s spread.
With its extensive network, the IFRC stated its readiness to “play a critical role in containing the disease’s spread, including in hard-to-reach areas where the need is most urgent.”
