BASSETERRE, St. Kitts --Cases of mpox are on the rise in Africa, leading the World Health Organization (WHO) to classify the disease as a "Public Health Emergency of International Concern."
Over the past year, mpox has been steadily increasing across the continent. During a press briefing on August 14, WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus reported more than 14,000 confirmed cases and 524 deaths.
While mpox, formerly known as Monkeypox, has been present for some time, it gained renewed attention last year as it began spreading globally to Europe, North America, and the Caribbean. Dr. Ghebreyesus expressed concern about the situation: “I have accepted that advice. The detection and rapid spread of a new clade of mpox in eastern DRC, its detection in neighboring countries that had not previously reported mpox, and the potential for further spread within Africa and beyond is very worrying.”
He emphasized the need for a coordinated international response: “In addition to outbreaks of other clades of mpox in different parts of Africa, it is clear that a unified international effort is essential to stop these outbreaks and save lives.”
The BBC reported that there are two main types of mpox: Clade 1 and Clade 2. While Clade 2 was prevalent during the 2022 outbreak, the current situation involves the more severe Clade 1.
The WHO highlighted that declaring a public health emergency of international concern represents the highest level of alert under international health law. Dr. Ghebreyesus noted that the emergency committee's advice, as well as the African CDC's declaration of a regional public health emergency on August 13, are in alignment.
Officials from the WHO are already collaborating with affected countries and those at risk. The disease has already spread to Rwanda, Burundi, Kenya, and other nations.
