WHO declares mpox outbreak a public health emergency of international concern
The World Health Organization (WHO) yesterday declared the mpox outbreak in parts of Africa a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC).
The announcement comes from WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, following the upsurge of mpox in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and a growing number of countries in Africa.
In declaring the PHEIC, Dr Tedros said, "The emergence of a new clade of mpox, its rapid spread in eastern DRC, and the reporting of cases in several neighbouring countries are very worrying. On top of outbreaks of other mpox clades in DRC and other countries in Africa, it’s clear that a coordinated international response is needed to stop these outbreaks and save lives.”
This PHEIC determination is the second in two years relating to mpox, which was formerly know as monkeypox. Caused by an Orthopoxvirus, mpox was first detected in humans in 1970, in the DRC. The disease is considered endemic to countries in central and west Africa.
In July 2022, the multi-country outbreak of mpox was declared a PHEIC as it spread rapidly via sexual contact across a range of countries where the virus had not been seen before. That PHEIC was declared over in May 2023 after there had been a sustained decline in global cases.
Mpox has been reported in the DRC for more than a decade, and the number of cases reported each year has increased steadily over that period. Last year, reported cases increased significantly, and already the number of cases reported so far this year has exceeded last year’s total, with more than 15,600 cases and 537 deaths.
A new virus strain, clade 1b, emerged last year and has been rapidly spreading, mainly through sexual networks. The WHO said that detection in countries neighbouring the DRC is especially concerning, and one of the main reasons for the declaration of the PHEIC.
It said that, in the past month, over 100 laboratory-confirmed cases of clade 1b have been reported in four countries neighbouring the DRC that have not reported mpox before: Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda. Adding that experts believe the true number of cases to be higher as a large proportion of clinically compatible cases have not been tested.
‘Significant efforts underway’
Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa, said, “Significant efforts are already underway in close collaboration with communities and governments, with our country teams working on the frontlines to help reinforce measures to curb mpox. With the growing spread of the virus, we’re scaling up further through coordinated international action to support countries bring the outbreaks to an end.”
Tamar Ghosh, RSTMH Chief Executive, said: “We are concerned to hear about the spread of mpox in eastern DRC and neighbouring countries, and express our support to the people and communities affected by this outbreak. We offer our support to the many experts and our partners in the region who will be working tirelessly to address this, and we will also consult our Country Ambassadors in the region to see if there are other ways we can support them, our members and Fellows.”