WHO declares mpox a global public health emergency

The World Health Organization on Wednesday declared the mpox surge in Africa was now a global public health emergency, sounding its highest possible alarm over the worsening situation.

“Today, the emergency committee met and advised me that in its view, the situation constitutes a public health emergency of international concern. I have accepted that advice,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a press conference.

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 to the same period last year, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. A total of 13 countries have reported cases.

A different form of the mpox virus — clade IIb – spread globally in 2022, largely through sexual contact among men who have sex with men. This prompted the WHO to declare a public health emergency then, which it ended 10 months later.