WHO declares the highest level of global alert for the spread of Mpox disease
The "health emergency of international concern" can only be declared by the WHO Director and involves legally binding steps to contain the relevant disease.
At the beginning of the WHO emergency committee's consultations, Tedros had explained that around 90 infections with the more severe and deadly virus subtype 1b had been registered in the previously unaffected countries of Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, there had already been more than 14,000 cases this year, with 524 people dying from the virus, which has been known for decades as monkeypox.
Mpox viruses were originally mainly spread among rodents in West and Central Africa. Human-to-human transmission is also possible with close contact, such as during sex. Typical symptoms of the disease include fever and skin pustules. In severe cases, the disease can be fatal.
In May 2022, the virus subtype 2b of the disease also began to spread outside Africa, mainly in Europe. Primarily affected were men who have sex with men. The WHO then declared, as with the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, a health emergency of international concern, which ended in May 2023. However, the virus subtype 2b is significantly less dangerous than the currently spreading subtype 1b.
The declaration of a "health emergency of international concern" for the spread of the mpxox virus subtype 2b outside Africa by the WHO highlights the need for global cooperation in its distribution of resources and information to contain the disease.
With the WHO's declaration of a health emergency, countries must prioritize and strategize the distribution of vaccines and therapeutics to mitigate the spread of the deadly mpxox virus subtype 1b, especially in affected regions like Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda.
