GENEVA — The director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO) said Wednesday he will convene a group of experts to determine whether the spread of poliovirus in Africa warrants declaring a global emergency.
Speaking at a press conference in Geneva, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the organization had decided to ask independent experts to advise the agency “as soon as possible” given the spread of MPOX cases outside Congo.
Last week, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that MPOX, also known as monkeypox, has been detected in 10 African countries this year, including Congo, which accounts for more than 96 percent of all cases and deaths. The center said cases are up 160 percent and deaths up 19 percent compared to the same period last year.
Africa CDC officials said about 70% of cases in Congo are among children under 15, and 85% of deaths are in this age group.
Burundi and Rwanda reported their first cases of Mpox last week, with cases confirmed in other countries including Kenya and the Central African Republic.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the agency had disbursed $1 million from its emergency fund to help respond to MPOX, also known as monkeypox.
Earlier this year, scientists reported the emergence of a new, more deadly strain of mpox in a mining town in the Congo, killing up to 10% of people, raising concerns that it might spread more easily between humans. Mpox is spread by close contact with infected people, including through sexual contact.
In 2022, the WHO declared MPOX a global emergency after it spread to more than 70 countries and primarily affected gay and bisexual men. Prior to that outbreak, the disease had mainly circulated sporadically in Central and West Africa, driven by people who had come into contact with infected animals.
Western countries have largely halted the spread of MPOX with the help of vaccines and treatments, most of which are unavailable in Africa.
Maria Van Kerkhove, head of WHO's epidemics department, said there were many worrying aspects of the MPOX epidemic in Africa and called for more urgent action.
“The world cannot just sit back and watch,” she said. “The time (to act) is now.”
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