Photo credit: RFI
The World Health Organization has declared mpox a global public health emergency.
To that effect, an emergency committee met on Wednesday to advise WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on whether the disease outbreak constitutes a “public health emergency of international concern.
WHO has reported 208 fatalities and over 99,000 mpox cases across 116 nations between January 2022 and June 2024.
Mpox is an infectious disease formerly known as monkeypox. It was first identified in humans in DRC in 1970. There are two subtypes of the virus – clade I and clade II. Clade I is more lethal. It has been endemic in the Congo Basin in Central Africa for decades. Clade II has been endemic in parts of west africa. Until recently, outbreaks were primarily caused by people contracting the virus from infected animals such as rodents through activities like consuming bushmeat.
