What to Know About Mpox, the Latest Global Public Health Emergency
A newer, easily contactable strain of Mpox, also known as monkeypox, started its spread from the Democratic Republic of Congo this year and has led to cases in South Africa and Japan.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared Mpox a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC). This is coming a day after the Africa Centre for Disease Control and Prevention declared Mpox a “public health emergency of continental security.”
Africa CDC had warned about the alarming rate of the spread of the viral infection last week, citing an outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo over the first half of this year, which spread to neighboring countries and beyond. “We declare today this public health emergency of continental security to mobilize our institutions, our collective will, and our resources to act swiftly and decisively,” Africa CDC Director General Jean Kaseyasaid in a briefing.
Determining the Mpox outbreak as a “public health emergency of international concern,” the world health body’s highest level of alert, WHO is hoping to accelerate funding and international public health measures to contain the spread of the disease.
“This is something that should concern us all ... The potential for further spread within Africa and beyond is very worrying,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesussaid in an address. On X, Ghebreyesus added that the world health body is “on the ground, working with the affected countries, and others at risk, through our country and regional offices, as well as with partners including the [Africa CDC], NGOs, civil society and more.”
The outbreak in Congo started with the spread of the endemic strain known as Clade 1, formerly known as the Congo Basin Clade. However, a new strain, known as Clade 1b and which appears to spread much more easily through close contact, including sexual contact, has driven the reach of the virus to over a dozen countries in Africa and beyond.
Mpox causes flu-like symptoms and pus-filled lesions on the body, and is usually mild but can be fatal in some cases. Neighboring countries like Burundi and Rwanda have reported cases this year, while farther countries including South Africa and Japan have recorded death from Mpox cases.
According to the Africa CDC, 96 percent of all Mpox cases and deaths are in Congo, with over 14,000 cases and 524 deaths so far this year, a 160 percent increase in cases and a 19 percent increase in deaths when compared with the same period last year. While the WHO declared Mpox a global emergency in 2022 after it spread to more than 70 countries, this new designation as a “public health emergency of international concern” raises urgency levels and the need for vaccine production and distribution.
In 2022, the U.S. government reportedly broke out 20 million doses of a dual-purpose smallpox and Mpox vaccine to deal with that previous outbreak. Similar to the COVID-19 vaccine situation, it highlighted the fact that Africa is always at the back of the queue for access to vaccines, especially in this case where African countries have been dealing with Mpox outbreaks for decades.
In his press briefing, Kaseya said the Africa CDC plans to secure 3 million vaccine doses this year, but experts believe that it will take months for vaccines to reach Congo and its neighboring countries, in order to stem the escalation of the viral disease.