WHO declares mpox outbreak a public health emergency of international concern

The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) declared Wednesday the mpox outbreak in Africa to be a public health emergency of international concern, citing its continued spread and detection in several countries of the region.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus made the announcement to media after convening a meeting with the Emergency Committee under the International Health Regulations. He had called for the meeting last week to discuss whether the situation on the ground warranted a declaration.

“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,” said Tedros.

“The detection and rapid spread of a new clade of mpox in eastern [Democratic Republic of the Congo], its detection in neighbouring countries that had not previously reported mpox, and the potential for further spread within Africa and beyond is very worrying,” he added. “A public health emergency of international concern is the highest level of alarm under international health law.”

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has reported a record number of cases since January 2023. The current outbreak stems from a strain descending from clade I mpox, which is endemic to the DRC and the Republic of the Congo.

Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Central African Republic, Côte d’Ivoire and South Africa have all confirmed at least one case of mpox this year, according to the WHO.

The WHO head said his organization is providing equipment to test blood samples on the ground as well as supporting laboratories, training health workers and helping with contact tracing among other actions to aid the response.

He also announced the development of a regional response plan that will cost $15 million, with the WHO providing the initial $1.5 million. While his organization will release more funds going forward, Tedros called on donors to help fund the rest of the plan.

Tedros’s declaration comes just one day after the African Centres for Disease Control and Prevention declared the outbreak to be a public health emergency of continental security.

Clade I mpox is distinct from the strain of mpox that spread to nonendemic countries in 2022, causing more severe illness and having a higher rate of mortality. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a health alert regarding the mpox outbreak in Africa last week.

No cases of this clade I mpox have been detected outside the impacted African countries so far. According to health care workers on the ground, this latest outbreak of clade I mpox appears to spread more easily from human to human, which is usually not seen in this strain that typically spreads from animal to human. The infections themselves, however, don’t appear to be more lethal than typical clade I infections.