World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced on Sunday that he is contemplating convening an expert committee to assess whether the escalating mpox outbreak in Africa warrants an international emergency declaration.
The outbreak, caused by a strain of the virus, has been surging in the Democratic Republic of Congo since September and has recently spread to neighboring African countries.
While the WHO, Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, local governments, and partners are scaling up their response efforts, Tedros emphasized the need for additional funding and support to combat the outbreak effectively.
“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.”
PHEIC is the most urgent warning the World Health Organization (WHO) can issue, and Director-General Tedros has the authority to make this declaration based on the recommendations of a panel of expert advisors.
In a statement to the journal Science, Tedros explained: “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.”
Mpox, previously known as monkeypox, is a viral infection transmitted to humans through contact with infected animals or close physical contact with an infected person.
First identified in humans in 1970 in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the disease causes fever, muscle pain, and distinctive skin lesions. There are two main subtypes: the more severe Clade I, found in central Africa, and Clade II, found in West Africa.
A global outbreak in 2022, primarily affecting gay and bisexual men, was caused by the Clade IIb subclade, leading to a WHO-declared Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) from July 2022 to May 2023.
However, a new surge of mpox cases, caused by the Clade Ib subclade, has been reported in the DR Congo since September 2023, with over 11,000 cases and 445 deaths reported as of July 11, predominantly affecting children.
“urgently approved $10.4 million from Covid funds to support Africa CDC’s efforts to continue to combat the mpox outbreak across the continent”.
The African Union stated that enhanced measures will improve surveillance, laboratory testing, data collection, case management, and vaccine accessibility.
Recently, Burundi reported three cases, Kenya one case, and Uganda two cases, with evidence suggesting the infections originated in the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo.
The International Health Regulations (IHR) provide a legal framework for countries to manage public health events with potential cross-border implications.
With 196 countries bound by the IHR, the WHO Director-General can declare a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC), activating emergency responses.
Since 2009, a PHEIC has been declared only seven times: for H1N1 swine flu, poliovirus, Ebola (twice), Zika virus, Covid-19, and mpox.
 Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced on Sunday that he is contemplating convening an expert committee to assess whether the escalating mpox outbreak in Africa warrants an international emergency declaration.){kind=link}