By Ebi Kesiena
The World Health Organization (WHO) has officially declared mpox a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) following a surge in cases, particularly in Africa.
WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus made the announcement on Wednesday during a media briefing.
“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,” Dr. Tedros stated.
The declaration marks the latest in a series of PHEICs, following the COVID-19 pandemic and a previous mpox outbreak in 2022.
While mpox has been endemic to Central and Western Africa, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has experienced a sharp increase in cases this year. According to the WHO, over 14,000 cases and 524 deaths have been reported in the DRC alone.
Mpox has two primary strains: clade I and clade II. Clade I has been linked to small, localized outbreaks in the DRC for years. However, a variant known as clade Ib, which appears to spread mainly through sexual contact, is believed to be the driving force behind the current outbreak.
The detection of clade Ib in neighboring countries that had not previously reported mpox cases—such as Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda—prompted Dr. Tedros to convene the WHO’s emergency committee.
“The detection and rapid spread of a new clade of mpox in eastern DRC, its detection in neighboring countries that had not previously reported mpox, and the potential for further spread within Africa and beyond is very worrying,” Dr. Tedros expressed during the briefing.
Earlier this week, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) declared mpox a Public Health Emergency of Continental Security. This is the first such declaration since the Africa CDC was established in 2017.
The WHO also reported that in June alone, 934 new laboratory-confirmed mpox cases and four deaths were recorded across 26 countries, highlighting the ongoing global transmission of the virus.
In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have reported 1,594 mpox cases so far this year. This is more than double the number of cases reported at the same time last year, though significantly lower than the numbers seen during the U.S. mpox outbreak in 2022, according to CDC data.
