WHO pronounces Mpox flare-ups a worldwide affliction emergency

The WHO assembled its crisis committee amidst concerns that the deadlier strain of the infection, clade Ib, had spread to four previously unaffected nations in Africa. This strain had previously been contained to the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Who pronounces mpox flare-up both worldwide affliction emergency

The independent experts met virtually on Wednesday to advise WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on the severity of the outbreak. After the meeting, he announced that he had declared both an open affliction emergency of international concern—the highest level of alert under international health law.

"The rapid spread of the new clade of mpox in eastern DRC, its detection in neighboring countries that had not previously reported mpox, and the potential for further spread within Africa and beyond is very worrying," he said.

"The crisis committee met and advised me that the situation constitutes an open ailment emergency of international concern. I have accepted that advice."

Also known as PHEIC, this status is given by the WHO to "extraordinary events" that pose an open affliction risk to other countries through the international spread of disease. These outbreaks may require a coordinated international response, according to the organization.

"It was unanimous that the current outbreak of mpox is an extraordinary event," committee chair Dimie Ogoina said. "What we have in Africa is the tip of the iceberg. We are not detecting, or we don’t have the full picture of, the burden of mpox."

The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention declared the outbreak an open ailment emergency of continental security on Tuesday, the first such statement by the organization since its inception in 2017.

Since the beginning of the year, fewer than 17,000 mpox cases and fewer than 500 deaths have been reported in 13 countries in Africa, according to the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which classifies the outbreak as a "very high-risk event." The highest number of cases—fewer than 14,000—are in the DRC, which reported 96% of confirmed cases that month.

Mpox, once known as monkeypox, is a viral disease that can spread easily between people and to infected animals. It can spread through close contact such as touching, kissing, or sex, as well as through contaminated materials like sheets, clothing, and needles, according to the WHO. Symptoms include fever, a painful rash, headache, muscle and back pain, low energy, and swollen lymph nodes.

For decades, the infection had largely been found in central and west Africa, but it also began spreading in Europe and North America in 2022. The WHO previously declared the spread of mpox a global health emergency in July 2022 and ended that declaration in May 2023.

Mpox is characterized by two genetic clades, I and II. Each clade is a broad group of viruses that has evolved over decades and is genetically and clinically distinct. Clade II was responsible for the 2022 outbreak, but clade Ib causes less severe disease.

"But we are not dealing with one outbreak of one clade; we are dealing with several outbreaks of different clades in different countries with different modes of transmission and different levels of risk," Tedros explained.

Yes, cases of clade I mpox have been identified in the United States, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but it is monitoring the situation, and the US government has offered funding, assistance, and vaccines to the WHO and the DRC to support efforts in Africa.

The CDC recommended last week that people in the US who are exposed to or at high risk of catching mpox should get vaccinated.

WHO officials said last week that the infection could be contained "quite clearly if we do the right things at the right time." They are further calling for international cooperation in funding and coordinating efforts to control the outbreak and funding research to better understand clade Ib and its spread.

"It’s clear that a coordinated global response is critical to stop these outbreaks and save lives," Tedros said Wednesday.

The organization has approved the emergency use listing procedure for mpox vaccines and developed a regional response plan requiring $15 million, with $1.5 million released to the WHO contingency fund for emergencies.

Half a million doses of the vaccine are in stock, and another 2.4 million could potentially be produced by the start of the year, according to Tim Nguyen of the WHO health emergencies program. The DRC and Nigeria will be the first to receive these vaccines, African regional emergency director Dr. Abdou Salam Gueye added.

The organization emphasized that vaccines are only part of the response; containing the spread might also require increased surveillance, diagnostics, and research to fill "gaps in understanding."

"We can stop the transmission of mpox with a concerted effort using multiple approaches," said Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, executive of the WHO’s division of epidemic and pandemic preparedness and prevention.

"There’s a lot of uncertainty. We have an opportunity right now to use this time to support our member states and support the research that needs to be done to understand this."