The World Health Organization’s chief announced on Sunday that he is considering convening an expert committee to advise on whether the growing mpox outbreak in Africa should be declared an international emergency.
Since last September, cases have surged in the Democratic Republic of Congo due to a strain of the virus that has recently been detected in nearby African countries. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the UN health agency, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, local governments, and partners are intensifying their response to the outbreak.
“But more funding and support for a comprehensive response are needed,” Tedros said on the social media platform X. “I am considering convening an International Health Regulations emergency committee to advise me on whether the outbreak of mpox should be declared a public health emergency of international concern.”
A Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) is the highest alert level the WHO can declare. Tedros, as WHO Director-General, can declare such an emergency based on the advice of a committee of experts.
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.”
Formerly known as monkeypox, mpox is an infectious disease caused by a virus transmitted to humans by infected animals and can also spread 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, muscle aches, and large boil-like skin lesions. There are two subtypes of the virus: Clade I, which is more virulent and deadly and endemic in the Congo Basin in central Africa, and Clade II, which is endemic in West Africa. In May 2022, mpox infections surged worldwide, primarily 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 and has largely subsided.
Since September 2023, a different strain of mpox, the Clade Ib subclade, has been surging in the DR Congo. On July 11, Tedros reported more than 11,000 cases and 445 deaths in the DRC this year, with children being the most affected.
The African Union announced on Friday that it had “urgently approved $10.4 million from Covid funds to support Africa CDC’s efforts to combat the mpox outbreak across the continent.” The funds will help increase monitoring, laboratory testing, regional and national data collection, case and infection management, and access to vaccines.
In late July, Burundi reported three cases, and Kenya registered a single case. On Saturday, Uganda announced its first two cases, with indications that the infections originated in the neighboring DRC.
The International Health Regulations (IHR) define countries’ rights and obligations in handling public health events that could cross borders. The IHR is legally binding on 196 countries. Under the IHR, the WHO chief can declare a PHEIC, triggering emergency responses under the regulations. A PHEIC has been declared only seven times since 2009: for H1N1 swine flu, poliovirus, Ebola, Zika virus, Ebola again, Covid-19, and mpox.
