The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Wednesday declared the monkeypox outbreaks in Africa a global health emergency following confirmation of monkeypox cases among children and adults in more than a dozen countries and a new form of the virus spreading.
WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, in a media briefing, said the announcement was following the recommendation of the emergency committee under the international health regulations recommendation that the situation now constitutes a public health emergency of international concern.
According to him, “the detection and rapid spread of a new strain of Mpox in the eastern DRC, its detection in neighbouring countries that had not previously reported Mpox, and the potential for further spread within Africa and beyond is very worrying.
“In addition to other outbreaks of other strains of Mpox in other parts of Africa, it’s clear that a coordinated international response is essential to stop these outbreaks and save lives.
“A public health emergency of international concern is the highest level of alarm under international health law.
“The emergency committee advised me and that of the African CDC Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, which yesterday declared a public health emergency of regional security, are aligned.”
He assured that WHO is on the ground working with the affected countries and others at risk through its country and regional offices, as well as with partners, including the African CDC, NGOs, civil society, and more.
In addition, he said that WHO is committed in the days and weeks ahead to coordinate the global response, working closely with each of the affected countries and leveraging our on-the-ground presence to prevent transmission, treat those infected, and save lives.
“We’re providing missions to analyse blood samples and confirm cases of Mpox. We’re supporting laboratories to sequence viral samples. We’re on the ground supporting case investigation and contact tracing, risk communication, and community engagement.
“We’re training health workers and supporting clinicians to provide appropriate care. We’re supporting countries to access vaccines and develop the strategies to roll them out, and much more. To fund this work, WHO has developed a regional response plan requiring an initial $15 million.
“We have released about $1.5 million from the WHO Contingency Fund for Emergencies, and we plan to release more in the coming days. We’re also appealing to donors to fund the rest of the response plan.”
Chair of the Emergency Committee and an infectious disease physician at the Niger Delta University Teaching Hospital (NDUTH) in Bayelsa State, Professor Dimie Ogoina, stated in a summary of the 16 member committee’s considerations for declaring an emergency that last year reported cases of Mpox increased significantly in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and already the number of cases reported so far this year has exceeded last year’s total, with more than 14,000 cases and 524 deaths.
Professor Ogoina said the committee had considered if the current outbreak of mpox constituted an extraordinary event, the emergence of a completely new strain of mpox virus, and if it has a public health risk of international spread.
“It was unanimous that the current outbreak of mpox is an extraordinary event in view of the fact that we’re having the highest number of cases ever reported in the DRC. For instance, since the outbreak was reported in the 1970s, especially in 2024, there has been a very significant upsurge in the number of cases. Children, vulnerable children, and pregnant women are also impacted, and a number of deaths have been reported.
“There is an emergence of a new strain that is widely referred to as mpox B observed to be sexually transmitted. Also remarkable, making it an extraordinary event, is that this virus is now circulating in parts of East Africa, up to about four countries.
“It was also remarkable to note that there’s a resurgence of mpox in South Africa. About 24 cases have been reported this year alone. And amongst those cases, we have three mortalities. It is affecting especially people living with HIV and those with advanced HIV disease.
“Evidently, the fact that the new virus that is sexually transmissible has spread to other African countries. And before now, these African countries have never reported a single case of mpox, including Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, and Kenya, reporting new cases of mpox. And the outbreak in Burundi, for instance, is very concerning because of the geographical dispersion of a number of cases reported there.
“So we believe that it’s already a risk for international spread. And of course, there is also the chance that it could spread beyond Africa to other regions of the world.
“Evidently, what we have now is that this challenge of the upsurge of mpox requires a coordinated response, not only in Africa but globally, so that collectively, all parties involved can work to improve surveillance, diagnosis, and other public health responses that are needed to nip this challenge in the bud.“
Professor Ogoina, however, urged improved investment in understanding the natural history and knowledge gaps that are peculiar, especially to Africa, regarding the impacts and the development of targeted interventions that will address the problem according to the context in which the problems are being faced in specific African countries.
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