The World Health Organization (WHO) has officially declared the ongoing mpox outbreak in Africa a global health emergency. This urgent announcement came on Wednesday as the spread of a more deadly strain of the virus, known as clade Ib, raised serious concerns.
The mpox virus, which had been largely contained within the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), has now reached four new countries in Africa that had previously been unaffected. This alarming development led WHO to convene an emergency committee of independent experts to assess the situation and provide recommendations.
After a virtual meeting, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus declared a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC)—the highest level of alert under international health law. This status is reserved for extraordinary events that pose significant public health risks through the international spread of disease and may require a coordinated global response.
“The detection and rapid spread of a new clade of mpox in eastern DRC, along with its appearance in neighboring countries that had not previously reported mpox, and the potential for further spread within Africa and beyond, is very worrying,” Tedros said in his announcement.
He emphasized the gravity of the situation, noting that the emergency committee had unanimously advised him to declare the outbreak a PHEIC. “I have accepted that advice,” he added.
Committee Chair Dimie Ogoina also expressed deep concern, stating, “What we have in Africa is the tip of the iceberg. … We are not recognizing, or we don’t have the full picture of, this burden of mpox.”
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