By IDSE News Staff
The upsurge of mpox in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and a growing number of countries in Africa constitutes a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) under the International Health Regulations (IHR), according to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, PhD, MS.
The declaration was based on advice of an IHR Emergency Committee, which reviewed data presented by experts from WHO and affected countries and concluded that the upsurge is a PHEIC with potential to spread farther across Africa and possibly outside the continent.
“The emergence of a new clade of mpox, its rapid spread in eastern DRC and the reporting of cases in several neighboring countries are very worrying,” Dr. Tedros said in the announcement. “On top of outbreaks of other mpox clades in DRC and other countries in Africa, it’s clear that a coordinated international response is needed to stop these outbreaks and save lives.”
A previous PHEIC determination for the disease came in 2022, when the Orthopoxvirus genus that causes mpox spread across countries where the virus—considered endemic to countries in Central and West Africa—had not been detected before. A sustained decline in global cases led to that PHEIC being declared over last May.
The number of mpox cases reported each year in the DRC has increased steadily over the past decade, with this year’s reported cases already exceeding last year’s total at more than 15,600 cases and 537 deaths. One of the main reasons for the declaration of the PHEIC, WHO said, was the emergence and rapid spread of a new virus strain, clade Ib.
The Department of Health and Human Services stated that the United States would continue to work closely with African governments, Africa CDC and WHO to respond to the outbreak, and will donate 50,000 doses of the FDA-approved Jynneos vaccine (Bavarian Nordic).
“The risk to the general public in the United States from clade I mpox circulating in the DRC is very low, and there are no known cases in the United States at this time,” the agency noted. “Due to efforts over the last nine months, the United States is well prepared to rapidly detect, contain, and manage clade I cases should they be identified domestically. … Those who have already had clade II mpox or are fully vaccinated against mpox are expected to be protected against severe illness from clade I mpox.”
Based on WHO and HHS press materials.
