United States: The outbreak of Mpox continues to serve as a public health emergency, the WHO said on Thursday.
An outbreak of a new form of mpox that spread from the badly hit Democratic Republic of Congo to neighboring countries in August led the WHO to declare the emergency, as reported by Reuters.
Rising Cases and Global Spread
The WHO’s Emergency Committee met, and the WHO’s Director-General agreed with its advice that an upsurge of mpox constitutes a public health emergency of international concern, and it continues.
WHO said the decision was based on the situation with a rising number and geographic spread of cases, practical difficulties involved in the field, and the necessity to coordinate a cross-country and cross-partner response.
There have already been more than 46,000 suspected cases in Africa this year, mostly in Congo, and more than 1,000 suspected deaths.
International Concern Over Clade Ib Variant
WHO’s highest alert form is the label of “public health emergency of international concern,” which was also assigned to a separate infective form of mpox prevailing in 2022-2023, as reported by Reuters.
This year’s alert came after the clade Ib variant of the virus spread.
So far, cases of this variant have been confirmed in the UK, Germany, Sweden, India, and a few other countries.
Vaccination Efforts Underway
The WHO cleared Bavarian Nordic’s (BAVA.CO) vaccine for mpox in September, and earlier this month approved Japan’s KM Biologics’ shot for emergency use.