Key Points
- WHO declares global public health emergency as mpox cases surge in Africa.
- Clade 1b spread worrying experts who fear outbreak in Africa is “the tip of the iceberg”.
- DRC and neighbours face resource challenges as WHO urges coordinated global response.
“Today, the emergency committee met and advised me that in its view, the situation constitutes a public health emergency of international concern. I have accepted that advice,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.
“This is something that should concern us all.”
Troubling new subclade 1b
Dimie Ogoina, who led the emergency committee, said all 15 members agreed the mpox surge is an extraordinary event. He said many members feared the known situation in Africa was “actually the tip of the iceberg”, because without more robust surveillance, “we don’t have the full picture”.
What is mpox and what are the symptoms?
A week or two after exposure, infection starts with fever, headache, swelling of the lymph nodes and muscle ache. Skin eruptions usually appear within one to three days of the fever commencing, and in most cases affect the face, hands and feet.
Mpox virus has been spreading at an unprecedented rate across Africa since January. Source: Getty / Mehmet Yaren Bozgun
In May 2022, , primarily affecting gay and bisexual men due to the clade 2b subclade. The WHO declared a public health emergency from July 2022 to May 2023, with around 90,000 cases and 140 deaths.
Since September 2023, the clade 1b subclade has been spreading in the DRC, causing more severe disease with a higher fatality rate.
What does PHEIC status mean?
A PHEIC has only been declared seven times previously since 2009: over H1N1 swine flu, poliovirus, Ebola, Zika virus, Ebola again, Covid-19 and mpox.
But “the same priorities remain: investing in diagnostic capacity, public health response, treatment support and vaccination”, she said, warning that this would be a challenge as the DRC and its neighbours are lacking resources.