WHO declares mpox as public health emergency of international concern
The World Health Organization (WHO) on August 14, 2024, declared mpox as a “public health emergency of international concern” (PHEIC), according to a statement from the United Nations body.
An International Health Regulations (IHR) Emergency Committee of independent experts had met earlier in the day to review data presented by experts from WHO and affected countries.
The Committee informed WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus that it considered the upsurge of mpox in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and a growing number of countries in Africa to be a PHEIC.
The upsurge in mpox also has the potential to spread further across countries in Africa and possibly outside the continent, it added. Ghebreyesus accordingly determined that mpox’s upsurge constituted a PHEIC under the 2005 IHR.
“Today, the Emergency Committee on #mpox met and advised me that in its view, the situation constitutes a public health emergency of international concern. I have accepted that advice. @WHO is on the ground, working with the affected countries, and others at risk, through our country and regional offices, as well as with partners including the @AfricaCDC, NGOs, civil society and more,” Tedros posted on his X (formerly Twitter) handle.
He added, “The emergence of a new clade of mpox, its rapid spread in eastern DRC, and the reporting of cases in several neighbouring countries are very worrying. On top of outbreaks of other mpox clades in DRC and other countries in Africa, it’s clear that a coordinated international response is needed to stop these outbreaks and save lives.”
What is a PHEIC?
A PHEIC is defined in the IHR (2005) as, “an extraordinary event which is determined to constitute a public health risk to other States through the international spread of disease and to potentially require a coordinated international response”. This definition implies a situation that is:
serious, sudden, unusual or unexpected;
carries implications for public health beyond the affected State’s national border; and
may require immediate international action.
What is mpox?
Mpox is caused by an orthopoxvirus. It was first detected in humans in 1970 and is endemic to countries in central and west Africa.
The latest determination of a PHEIC for mpox is the second in two years.
“In July 2022, the multi-country outbreak of mpox was declared a PHEIC as it spread rapidly via sexual contact across a range of countries where the virus had not been seen before. That PHEIC was declared over in May 2023 after there had been a sustained decline in global cases,” the WHO statement noted.
Mpox has been reported in the DRC for more than a decade. Last year, reported cases increased significantly, and already the number of cases reported so far this year has exceeded last year’s total, with more than 15, 600 cases and 537 deaths.
A new virus strain, clade 1b, emerged and spread rapidly through DRC last year, apparently through sexual network. It has turned up in countries where it was not reported from earlier. This is one of the main reasons for the declaration of the PHEIC.
“In the past month, over 100 laboratory-confirmed cases of clade 1b have been reported in four countries neighbouring the DRC that have not reported mpox before: Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda. Experts believe the true number of cases to be higher as a large proportion of clinically compatible cases have not been tested,” according to WHO.
There are two vaccines in use currently for mpox. They are recommended by WHO’s Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization and are also approved by WHO-listed national regulatory authorities, as well as by individual countries including Nigeria and the DRC.
An amount of US$ 15 million will be needed initially to support surveillance, preparedness and response activities.
“To allow for an immediate scale up, WHO has released US$ 1.45 million from the WHO Contingency Fund for Emergencies and may need to release more in the coming days,” the statement added.