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The World Health Organization (WHO) announced on Wednesday that it will hold an emergency committee to decide if a new, deadlier mpox outbreak is a global public health emergency.
This deadlier strain of mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, has been confirmed in five countries in Africa: the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda. The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports mpox has been detected in 10 countries in Africa.
This year there have been more than 14,000 reported cases and 511 deaths in the Democratic Republic of Congo – the epicenter of the virus.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a press briefing on Wednesday that “the number of cases reported in the first six months of this year match the number reported in all of last year and the virus has spread to previously unaffected provinces.”
Since 2023, there have been approximately 27,000 cases of mpox, killing more than 1,100 people in the DRC.
“Mpox outbreaks are caused by different viruses called clades,” Ghebreyesus explained.
“Clade 1 has been circulating in the DRC for years, while clade 2 was responsible for the global outbreak which began in 2022.
“The current outbreak in the Eastern DRC is caused by a new offshoot of clade 1, called clade 1b, which causes more severe disease than clade 2.
“Clade 1b has been confirmed in Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda, while the clade in Burundi is still being analyzed.
“At the same time, cases of clade 1a have been reported this year in DRC, the Central African Republic and the Republic of Congo, while clade 2 has been reported in Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Liberia, Nigeria and South Africa.”
Ghebreyesus added that stopping the transmission of mpox “will require a comprehensive response.”
In light of the spread of #mpox outside #DRC, and the potential for further international spread within and outside Africa, I have decided to convene an Emergency Committee under the International Health Regulations to advise me on whether the outbreak represents a public health…
— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) August 7, 2024
“People are very mobile at the eastern part of the country with great connection with neighboring countries,” Dr. Placide Mbala, an epidemiologist at the DRC’s National Institute of Biomedical Research, told Science. “It was just a matter of time to start seeing cases in those neighbor countries.”
Also on Wednesday, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued an alert for doctors to watch for signs of the deadlier strain of mpox.
Mpox is a virus that is spread from person to person through close, skin-to-skin contact, as well as through contaminated materials like sheets, clothing and needles. It causes fevers, headaches, muscle and back pain, low energy, enlarged lymph nodes, and painful boils on the skin.