Today, August 14, 2024, World Health Organisation Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesu declared a public health emergency of international concern in relation to a surge in mpox in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and other African countries which could spread outside Africa.
According to the WHO, mpox was first detected in humans in 1970 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and is considered endemic to countries in central and west Africa. It is reportedly spread through sexual contact.
Commenting upon the international threat, 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.
Committee Chair Professor Dimie Ogoina added:
The current upsurge of mpox in parts of Africa, along with the spread of a new sexually transmissible strain of the monkeypox virus, is an emergency, not only for Africa, but for the entire globe.
Mpox, originating in Africa, was neglected there, and later caused a global outbreak in 2022.It is time to act decisively to prevent history from repeating itself.
WHO Regional Director for Africa Dr Matshidiso Moeti also commented:
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.
Regarding the danger posed by Mpox, the WHO said that there have been 15 600 cases and 537 deaths. The WHO added “The emergence last year and rapid spread of a new virus strain in DRC, clade 1b.”
The WHO continued:
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. Experts believe the true number of cases to be higher as a large proportion of clinically compatible cases have not been tested.
It is unclear whether the WHO declaration will lead to vaccine mandates similar to COVID-19. However, the WHO noted that two vaccines are currently in use for mpox that are recommended by WHO’s Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization, and are also approved by WHO-listed national regulatory authorities, as well as by individual countries including Nigeria and the DRC.
