WHO declares Mpox a global public health emergency; ‘coordinated international response essential,’ says DG Tedros

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared mpox a global public health emergency for the second time in two years, following an outbreak of the viral infection in Democratic Republic of Congo that has spread to neighbouring countries.

Earlier this week, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) announced that the mpox outbreaks were a public health emergency, with more than 500 deaths, and called for international help to stop the virus’ spread.

On August 14, an emergency committee met to advise WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on whether the disease outbreak constitutes a "public health emergency of international concern," or PHEIC, news agency Reuters said in a report.

PHEIC status is WHO's highest level of alert and aims to accelerate research, funding and international public health measures and cooperation to contain a disease.

“It's clear that a coordinated international response is essential to stop these outbreaks and save lives,” Tedros said.

Mpox can spread through close contact. Usually mild, it is fatal in rare cases. It causes flu-like symptoms and pus-filled lesions on the body.

The Africa CDC previously said that mpox, also known as monkeypox, has been detected in 13 countries this year, and that more than 96 per cent of all cases and deaths are in Congo. Cases are up 160 per cent and deaths are up 19 per cent compared with the same period last year. So far, there have been more than 14,000 cases and 524 people have died.

The outbreak in Congo began with the spread of an endemic strain, known as clade I. But a new variant, clade Ib, appears to spread more easily through routine close contact, including sexual contact. It has spread from Congo to neighbouring countries, including Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda, triggering the action from the WHO. 

"The detection and rapid spread of a new clade of mpox in eastern DRC, its detection in neighbouring countries that had not previously reported mpox, and the potential for further spread within Africa and beyond is very worrying," Tedros added.

The WHO Director-General said that the UN health agency had released $1.5 million in contingency funds and plans to release more in the coming days. WHO's response plan would require an initial $15 million, and the agency plans to appeal to donors for funding.

Professor Dimie Ogoina, chair of WHO's mpox emergency committee, was quoted in the Reuters report saying that all members unanimously agreed that the current upsurge of cases is an "extraordinary event," with a record number of cases in Congo.

Vaccines and behaviour change helped stop the spread when a different strain of mpox spread globally, primarily among men who have sex with men, and WHO declared an emergency in 2022.

In Congo, the transmission routes need further study, WHO said. No vaccines are yet available, although efforts are underway to change that and work out who best to target. The agency also appealed to countries with stockpiles to donate shots.

During the global 2022 mpox outbreak that affected more than 70 countries, fewer than 1 per cent of people died.

Michael Marks, a professor of medicine at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, told AP that declaring the mpox outbreaks in Africa an emergency is warranted if that might lead to more support to contain them.

“It’s a failure of the global community that things had to get this bad to release the resources needed,” he said.

(With Reuters and AP inputs)