The head of the World Health Organization has said he will convene an expert group to determine if the increasing spread of the mpox virus in Africa warrants being declared a global emergency.
At a press briefing in Geneva during the week, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that given the increasing spread of mpox cases beyond the Democratic Republic of Congo, he has decided to ask independent experts to advise WHO “as soon as possible.”
Last week, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that mpox – also known as monkeypox – has now been detected in 10 African countries this year including the DRC, which has more than 96 percent of all cases and deaths.
Compared with the same time period last year, the agency said cases are up 160 percent and deaths have jumped by 19 percent.
On Thursday the Africa CDC said it was "likely" to declare a public health emergency next week over the growing mpox outbreak on the continent.
The decision will unlock funding to combat the outbreak, including the procurement of much-needed vaccines, and trigger a coordinated continental response to the virus.
Following the meeting of experts, it will be decided if the WHO should declare a "public health emergency of international concern, or PHEIC, which is the highest alarm the organisation can sound.
In a statement to the journal Science, Tedros added: "This virus can and must be contained with intensified public health measures including surveillance, community engagement, treatment and targeted deployment of vaccines for those at higher risk of infection".
Different strain
Formerly known as monkeypox, mpox is an infectious disease caused by a virus transmitted to humans by infected animals that can also be passed from human to human through close physical contact.
It was first discovered in humans in 1970 in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The disease causes fever, muscular aches and large boil-like skin lesions.
There are two subtypes of the virus: the more virulent and deadlier Clade I, endemic in the Congo Basin in central Africa, and Clade II, endemic in West Africa.
In May 2022, mpox infections surged worldwide, mostly affecting gay and bisexual men, due to the Clade IIb subclade.
The outbreak led the WHO to declare a PHEIC, which lasted from July 2022 to May 2023. That outbreak has now largely subsided.
Since September 2023, a different strain of mpox, the Clade Ib subclade, has been surging in the DRC.
On 11 July, Tedros said more than 11,000 cases and 445 deaths had been reported in the DRC this year, with children the most affected.
Emergency funds
This comes as the African Union said it had "urgently approved $10.4 million from Covid funds to support Africa CDC's efforts to continue to combat the mpox outbreak across the continent".
This will help increase monitoring, laboratory testing, regional and national data collection, case and infection management, and access to vaccines, the AU added.
In late July, Burundi reported three cases and Kenya registered a single case.
Last weekend, Uganda announced that its first two cases had been detected, with indications that the infections took place in the neighbouring DRC.
The International Health Regulations are the framework defining countries' rights and obligations in handling public health events that could cross borders.
The IHR are legally binding on 196 countries.
Under the IHR, the WHO chief can declare a PHEIC, triggering emergency responses under the regulations.
A PHEIC has only been declared seven times since 2009: over H1N1 swine flu, poliovirus, Ebola, Zika virus, Ebola again, Covid-19 and mpox.
