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The World Health Organisation has declared that an outbreak of mpox in central Africa is a global health emergency.
Mpox is a viral infection that causes flu-like symptoms and pus-filled lesions, and while usually mild, it can kill. It spreads through close contact, including sexual contact.
Last week, the World Health Organisation declared a public health emergency after a new offshoot of the mpox virus, first identified in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), began spreading to other neighbouring countries.
Two strains of mpox are now spreading in central Africa - the original form of the virus, clade 1, and a new offshoot called clade 1b. Health experts have warned that clade 1b could spread more easily between people.
The map below shows all of the countries which have recorded a laboratory-confirmed case of clade 1. It does not include countries with a suspected infection, such as Pakistan.
Clade 1b first emerged in the DRC last year, according to the WHO. It has since spread to Rwanda, Uganda, Burundi and Kenya.
Sweden last week became the first European country to report a case of clade 1b, while Pakistan last Friday also confirmed a case of the mpox virus in a patient who had returned from a Gulf country. However, officials said it was unclear whether it was of the new variant or of the clade that has been spreading globally since 2022.
Health officials in Thailand also said on Wednesday that a case had been confirmed in the country, the first in south east Asia.
The 66-year-old male tested positive for clade 1b mpox after travelling to Thailand from Bakauva in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) last week, according to health authorities.
So far in 2024, there have been more than 15,600 cases of mpox and 537 deaths.
Scientists hope that the WHO’s decision to declare an emergency will speed up efforts to get more medical tools and funding to Congo.
Professor Jimmy Whitworth, an infectious diseases expert at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said that the new outbreak was “very concerning” and that the WHO’s declaration should lead to “a prompt mobilisation of money and resources”, including an increase in vaccine manufacturing.
Vaccines and behaviour change helped stop transmission when a different strain of mpox spread globally in 2022, primarily among men who have sex with men. London became the epicentre of the UK outbreak, but cases have since declined.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said there are currently no cases of the virus in the UK and that the risk to the population remains low.
However, the UK is preparing for any potential cases by ensuring clinicians are aware of mpox and able to recognise cases promptly.
Rapid testing is also being made available, while protocols are being developed for the safe care of potential patients to prevent transmission.
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) has raised its risk level for mpox, and asked countries to maintain high levels of awareness among travellers visiting from affected areas.
The agency raised its risk level assessment to "moderate" from "low" for the broader population and travellers to affected areas.
"Due to the close links between Europe and Africa, we must be prepared for more imported clade I cases," said the agency's director, Pamela Rendi Wagner.
The first ever human case of mpox was recorded in Congo in 1970, and it has had outbreaks ever since.
