On August 14, the World Health Organisation designated the continuing mpox outbreak in Africa to be a global health emergency on Wednesday.
In response to worries that a more deadly strain of the virus, known as clade Ib, had infected four previously unaffected regions of Africa, the UN health body called an emergency meeting of its mpox committee. The Democratic Republic of the Congo was the only place where this strain was previously found.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus declared a public health emergency of international concern, the greatest level of alarm under international health law, following a meeting with independent experts.
This designation, also known as PHEIC, is bestowed by the World Health Organisation for “extraordinary events” that provide a threat to global public health by means of cross-border disease transmission. The organisation states that these epidemics might necessitate a coordinated international response.
For the first time since the organization’s founding in 2017, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention designated the epidemic as a public health emergency of continental security on Tuesday.
The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention have reported over 17,000 cases and over 500 deaths in 13 African nations since the start of this year; they have classified the epidemic as a “very high-risk event.” With over 14,000 cases, the DRC has the largest number.
Formerly called monkeypox, mpox is a viral illness that is easily transmitted from infected animals to humans. According to the WHO, it can spread through intimate contact like kissing, caressing, or having sex as well as through contaminated objects including clothing, needles, and bedding. Fever, excruciating rash, headache, back and muscular discomfort, low energy, and swollen lymph nodes are some of the symptoms.
