WHO declares Mpox a public health emergency due to upsurge in Africa

Team Udayavani, Aug 20, 2024, 12:16 PM IST

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WHO on August 14 declared money pox (mpox) as a public health emergency of international concern over the upsurge of mpox in Africa. According to WHO so far this year, 15, 664 cases of mpox, with 537 deaths, have been reported in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) alone, already exceeding last year’s total, which itself was a record.

The upsurge in DRC is being driven by two separate outbreaks by two clades (clade 1a and 1b), of the mpox virus. In the past month, more than 100 cases of clade 1b have also been reported in four neighbouring countries of DRC which had not reported mpox before: Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda. Also, the first case of mpox clade 1b infection has been identified in Sweden. The rapid spread of clade 1b in African countries and Sweden is the main reason for WHO to declare a public health emergency of international concern.

Declaration of emergency underscores the need for affected countries to tackle the virus together and all countries to enhance surveillance, share data, and work to better understand the transmission; share tools like vaccines; and apply lessons learned from prior public health emergencies of international concern in addressing the current outbreak.

Authored by Dr. Gunisha Pasricha, Principal Scientist, Infectious Disease, MedGenome