WHO declares Monkeypox outbreak a global health emergency
The World Health Organization during a virtual meeting on Wednesday declared the ongoing Monkeypox outbreak in Africa a global health emergency.
WHO convened the emergency committee amid concerns that a deadlier strain of the virus, clade Ib, is spreading across Africa.
The disease which was initially reported in the Democratic Republic of Congo has spread to previously unaffected countries in Africa.
WHO Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, “The further spread within Africa and beyond is very worrying.”
“The emergency committee met and advised me that the situation constitutes a public health emergency of international concern. I have accepted that advice,” he added.
Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention declared the outbreak a public health emergency of continental security on Tuesday, the first such declaration by the agency since its inception in 2017.
Africa CDC reported 17,000 mpox cases and more than 500 deaths have been reported in 13 countries in Africa, which classifies the outbreak as a “very high-risk event.”
The highest number of cases — more than 14,000 — is in the DRC, which reported 96% of confirmed cases this month.
Mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, is a viral disease that can spread easily between people and from infected animals.
It is a communicable disease that can be gotten through touching, kissing, sex, as well as through contaminated materials. The symptoms include a fever, a painful rash, headache, muscle and back pain, low energy and enlarged lymph nodes.
Mpox is characterized by two genetic clades, I and II. A clade is a broad grouping of viruses that has evolved over decades and is a genetic and clinically distinct group. Clade II was responsible for the 2022 outbreak, but clade Ib causes more severe disease.
