CNN —
The World Health Organization on Wednesday declared the ongoing MPOX outbreak in Africa a global health emergency.
The WHO convened an emergency committee amid fears that a more deadly strain of the virus, the Ib lineage, which had previously been contained to the Democratic Republic of Congo, has spread to four previously unaffected African countries.
The independent experts met virtually on Wednesday to advise WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on the severity of the outbreak, and after consultations, he announced he had declared a “Public Health Emergency of International Concern,” the highest level of alert under international health law.
“The detection and rapid spread of a new strain of MPOX in eastern DRC, its detection in neighbouring countries where MPOX has not previously been reported, and the potential for further spread within and beyond Africa are of great concern,” he said.
“The Emergency Committee met and advised me that this situation is a public health emergency of international concern. I have accepted that advice.”
Also known as a PHEIC, the status is given by the WHO to “extraordinary events” where the international spread of a disease poses a public health risk to other countries, and such outbreaks may require a coordinated international response, according to the WHO.
“We were unanimous that the current MPOX epidemic, this surge, is an extraordinary event,” said committee chair Dimier Ogoyena. “What's happening in Africa is just the tip of the iceberg. … We are not aware of this burden of MPOX or we don't have the full picture.”
The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday declared the outbreak a continental safety public health emergency, the first time the centre has done so since it was founded in 2017.
According to the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 17,000 MPOX cases and more than 500 deaths have been reported in 13 African countries so far this year, with the center categorizing the outbreak as a “very high-risk event.” The Democratic Republic of Congo has the highest number of cases, with more than 14,000 cases, accounting for 96% of the confirmed cases this month.
Formerly known as monkeypox, Mpox is a viral disease that spreads easily from person to person and from infected animals. According to the WHO, it can spread through close contact, such as touching, kissing, and sexual intercourse, as well as through contaminated materials such as sheets, clothing, and needles. Symptoms include fever, a painful rash, headache, muscle and back pain, loss of energy, and swollen lymph nodes.
For decades, the disease was found primarily in Central and West Africa, but began spreading in Europe and North America in 2022. The WHO declared the MPOX epidemic a global health emergency in July 2022, and ended the declaration in May 2023.
Mpox is characterized by two genetic clades, I and II. Clades are broad groups of viruses that have evolved over decades and are genetically and clinically distinct. The 2022 outbreak was caused by lineage II, while lineage Ib causes more severe disease.
“But we are not dealing with a single outbreak of one lineage. We are dealing with multiple outbreaks of different lineages in different countries, with different modes of transmission and different risk levels,” Tedros clarified.
According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there have been no confirmed cases of lineage I mpox in the United States, but they are monitoring the situation, and the US government is providing funds, aid, and vaccines to the WHO and the Democratic Republic of Congo to support efforts in Africa.
The CDC recommended last week that people in the United States who are at high risk or have been exposed to MPOX should get vaccinated.
WHO officials said last week that the virus could be contained “fairly easily with the right response at the right time,” and have called for international cooperation in financing and organizing efforts to quell the outbreak, as well as funding research to better understand lineage Ib and its spread.
“It is clear that a coordinated international response is essential to stop this spread and save lives,” Tedros said Wednesday.
The organization approved the emergency use listing process for both mpox vaccines and developed a regional response plan requiring $15 million, with $1.5 million from the WHO's emergency response fund.
Get CNN Health's weekly newsletter
Tim Nguyen, from the WHO Health Emergencies Programme, said there were 500,000 doses of the vaccine in stock, with another 2.4 million likely to be produced by the end of the year. Dr Abdou Salam Nguyen, Africa regional emergencies director, added that the Democratic Republic of Congo and Nigeria would be the first to receive the vaccine.
The organisation stressed that vaccines are only part of the response, and that containing the spread also requires strengthened surveillance, diagnostics and research to fill “gaps in understanding”.
“With a concerted effort using multiple approaches, we can stop MPOX transmission,” said Dr Maria Van Kerkhove, head of WHO's Department of Communicable Diseases and Pandemic Preparedness and Prevention.
“There's a lot of uncertainty. … Now is our opportunity to make the most of this time and support the research that member states need to understand this issue.”
