WEB DESK: The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared that an outbreak of mpox, a viral infection that spread through close contact, represents a global health emergency for the second time in two years.
A “public health emergency of international concern” or PHEIC is WHO’s highest form of alert. It is announced when diseases are spreading in new or unusual ways, and is aimed at galvanising international cooperation and funding to tackle an outbreak.
WHO’s declaration follows a similar label from the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention earlier this week.
Two years ago, WHO declared mpox was an emergency when a form of the disease began to spread globally, largely among men who have sex with men. That outbreak was brought under control after behaviour change and safe sex practices, plus vaccines, helped people at risk protect themselves in many countries.
But mpox has been a public health problem in parts of Africa for decades. The first ever human case was in Congo in 1970, and it has had outbreaks ever since.
The current outbreak, Congo’s worst ever, has seen 27,000 cases and more than 1,100 deaths since January 2023, largely among children. The disease causes flu-like symptoms and pus-filled lesions, and is usually mild but can kill. Children, pregnant women and people with weakened immune systems, such as those with HIV, are all at higher risk of complications.
Two strains of mpox are now spreading in the country: the endemic form of the virus as well as a new offshoot.
This new form of the virus has triggered global concern because it seems to be spreading quickly and little is known about it. It is transmitting through sexual contact as well as other close contact – such as among children in displacement camps in parts of Congo – and has now moved from eastern Congo to Rwanda, Uganda, Burundi and Kenya. Scientists hope that the emergency declarations will speed up efforts to get more medical tools and funding to Congo to help the authorities there tackle the outbreak. Better surveillance is needed to study the virus and help stop the spread