Given the situation and the potential for further international spread within and beyond Africa, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus convened an Emergency Committee to advise him on whether the outbreak represents a public health emergency of international concern.
The designation is the UN agency's highest alert level.
“The committee will meet as soon as possible and will be composed of independent experts from a range of relevant disciplines from around the world,” he said, speaking in Geneva.
Mpox Spread and Symptoms
Monkeypox (Mpox) is a viral disease endemic in central and western Africa. It can be transmitted through physical contact with an infected person, animal or contaminated materials.
Symptoms include rashes or skin lesions, accompanied by fever, headache, muscle aches, back pain, lack of energy, and swollen lymph nodes.
Mpox gained global attention two years ago after cases emerged around the world amid the COVID-19 pandemic. That outbreak was declared a public health emergency of international concern in July 2022 and ended in May of the following year.
Serious outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo
Tedros said the Democratic Republic of Congo has been suffering from a severe outbreak of MPOX since the beginning of the year. More than 14,000 cases and 511 deaths have been reported.
Although outbreaks have been reported in the country for decades and the number of cases reported annually has been steadily increasing, the number of cases during the first six months of this year matches the total for all of 2023.
Affected neighbouring countries
“Last month, around 50 confirmed and suspected cases were reported in four previously unreported neighbouring countries of the Democratic Republic of Congo: Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda,” he said.
Tedros explained that mpox outbreaks are caused by different viruses called clades.
Clade 1 has been circulating in the Democratic Republic of the Congo for years, while clade 2 was responsible for the global outbreak that began in 2022.
The current outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo is caused by a new branch of clade 1, called clade 1b, which causes more severe disease than clade 2.
It has been confirmed in Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda, while the clade in Burundi is still being analyzed.
“At the same time, clade 1a cases have been reported this year in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic and the Republic of the Congo, while clade 2 cases have been reported in Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Liberia, Nigeria and South Africa,” Tedros said.
Increase understanding and support
WHO is working with governments of affected countries, the Africa Centre for Disease Control, non-governmental organizations, civil society and other partners to understand and address the causes of these outbreaks.
Tedros stressed that stopping transmission will require a comprehensive response that puts communities at the centre.
WHO has also developed a regional response plan worth US$15 million to support surveillance, preparedness and response activities. It has also released US$1 million from an emergency fund to support the scale-up of the response, with further donations planned.
Currently, two mpox vaccines have been approved by national regulatory authorities including WHO and have also been recommended by its immunization expert group, SAGE.
“I have launched the process of listing both vaccines for emergency use, which will accelerate access to the vaccines, particularly for low-income countries, which have not yet issued their own national regulatory approval,” he said.
The inclusion on the Emergency Use Listing means that the global vaccine alliance, Gavi, and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) will be able to purchase doses for distribution.
The partners were also members of the global mechanism to ensure equity in COVID-19 vaccines, known as COVAX.
