WHO DECLARES MPOX GLOBAL HEALTH EMERGENCY

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared the mpox outbreak in Africa a global health emergency. The declaration is the highest level of alarm under international health law.

The emergency state was called after the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention made a public health emergency declaration.

CNN reports that mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, is a viral disease related to the now-eradicated smallpox virus. It can spread through close contact such as touching, kissing or sex, as well as through contaminated materials like sheets, clothing and needles.

Clade lb is a deadlier strain of the mpox virus and it’s currently spreading through African countries. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the fact that it could spread internationally is “very worrying”.

“It was unanimous that the current outbreak of Mpox, upsurge of Mpox, is an extraordinary event. What we have in Africa is the tip of the iceberg… We are not recognising, or we don’t have the full picture of, this burden of Mpox.”

A day after the WHO declared the disease a global health emergency, Sweden confirmed its first case outside Africa.

Image credit: News Day Zimbabwe