Africa’s mpox outbreak has been declared a global health emergency by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Clade lb, a deadlier strain of the virus, has reportedly emerged in other African countries, causing enough concerns for WHO to convene its emergency committee on Wednesday.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) — the highest level of alarm for international health laws — on the same day.
The rate at which the virus was spreading and its detection in neighbouring countries which had previously not reported mpox was “very worrying,” Gebreyesus said.
The virus had till now been contained to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Experts consulted with the WHO chief before he made the announcement. “The emergency committee met and advised me that the situation constitutes a public health emergency of international concern. I have accepted that advice,” Ghebreyesus said.
PHEIC is announced by WHO for “extraordinary events” that pose a public health risk to other countries as the disease crosses borders.
An international response is required to coordinate emergency responses.
The viral disease Mpox or monkeypox spreads easily from infected animals to humans.
It is highly contagious and people can get infected through touching, kissing or sex, or through contaminated sheets, clothing and needles, according to WHO.
Those infected can develop fever, a painful rash, headache, muscle and back pain.
Depleted energy levels and enlarged lymph nodes are other symptoms.
Two genetic clades, I and II characterise mpox. A clade is a group of viruses that is genetically and clinically distinct from other groups and evolves over decades.
Largely confined for long to Central and West Africa, the disease spread to Europe and North America in 2022.
Previously mpox had been declared a health emergency in July 2022 by WHO, which ended that declaration in May 2023.
The 2022 outbreak was caused by Clade II, but clade Ib causes more severe disease.
“What we have in Africa is the tip of the iceberg... we don’t have the full picture of, this burden of mpox,” media outlets quoted committee chair Chair Dimie Ogoina as saying
According to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention more than 17,000 mpox cases and more than 500 deaths were reported in 13 African countries.
DRC had the highest number of 14,000 case, with 96% of confirmed cases in August.
The 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.
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