The World Health Organisation (WHO) Thursday declared mpox a global public health emergency following an outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) that has spread to neighbouring countries.
WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus’s declaration came on the advice of an IHR Emergency Committee of independent experts who met earlier in the day to review data presented by experts from WHO and affected countries.
The committee informed the director-general that it considers the upsurge of mpox to be a PHEIC, with potential to spread further across countries in Africa and possibly outside the continent.
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.”
WHO regional director for Africa, Dr Matshidiso Moeti, said, “Significant efforts are already underway in close collaboration with communities and governments, with our country teams working on the frontline 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 to bring the outbreaks to an end.”