Mpox, also known as monkeypox, has reached outbreak levels in some African countries, officials warn.
The World Health Organization’s director-general said the United Nations health body is considering declaring an emergency for mpox, also known as monkeypox, amid an outbreak in Africa.
“But more funding and support for a comprehensive response are needed,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus wrote on the social media platform X on Sunday. “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.”
By Tuesday, it was unclear when the WHO would declare the emergency or issue any warnings about the virus.
A statement from Tedros published by the journal Science added that “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.”
“A further scaling up of the mpox response underway in affected countries is urgently needed amid the expanding outbreak,” his statement said, calling for “more funding for a comprehensive response” that factors in diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccines.
A public health emergency of international concern is the strongest designation for an outbreak. Notably, such a declaration was made for COVID-19 during the early onset of the pandemic in 2020.
Later, WHO made the designation for an mpox outbreak that lasted from 2022 to 2023, while President Joe Biden’s administration declared an emergency over the virus. During that outbreak, which impacted Europe and the United States, officials say mpox primarily spread via sexual contact between men.
The latest announcement was made as the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in a report last week that mpox has now been detected in 10 African countries this year, including Congo, which has more than 96 percent of all cases and deaths.
Officials said nearly 70 percent of cases in Congo are affecting children younger than 15, who also accounted for 85 percent of deaths.
