WHO Declares Mpox Outbreak in Africa a Public Health Emergency
The World Health Organization (WHO) has officially declared the ongoing mpox outbreak across parts of Africa as a public health emergency of international concern. This declaration comes in response to the rapid spread of a new, highly contagious variant of the virus, which has already resulted in over 450 deaths during an initial outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and is now spreading to other central and east African countries.
Mpox, previously known as monkeypox, is transmitted through close contact, including skin-to-skin contact, sexual activity, and even through respiratory droplets when in close proximity to an infected person. The disease presents with flu-like symptoms and skin lesions and can be fatal in severe cases, with the current variant showing a notably high fatality rate.
The outbreak, which has seen over 13,700 cases in the DRC alone since the start of the year, has now been detected in countries such as Burundi, the Central African Republic, Kenya, and Rwanda. The rapid mutation of the virus into the Clade 1b variant, deemed “the most dangerous yet” by experts, has heightened concerns among global health officials.
Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO’s Director-General, expressed deep concern over the potential for the virus to spread beyond Africa, calling for a coordinated international response to contain the outbreak and save lives. This call for action is echoed by Dr Josie Golding from the Wellcome Trust and Professor Trudie Lang from the University of Oxford, who highlighted the urgent need for further research and public health measures.
The severity of the current outbreak has led scientists to compare it to the mpox outbreak of 2022, which primarily involved the milder Clade 2 variant but still resulted in more than 87,000 cases and 140 deaths globally. This previous outbreak was largely concentrated among men who have sex with men and was eventually brought under control through targeted vaccinations.
However, with the emergence of the more deadly Clade 1 variant, the situation in Africa has become increasingly dire. The head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, Jean Kaseya, emphasised the critical need for proactive and aggressive efforts to contain the virus, warning that failure to act swiftly could allow the outbreak to spiral out of control.
For more detailed information, you can read the WHO’s official statement on the mpox outbreak, which outlines the urgent need for global action.
