The World Health Organization no longer considers the mpox outbreak in Africa to be an international health emergency, the UN agency's director said Friday.
The new form of mpox emerged in early 2024 in Congo and neighboring African countries, spread through close contact including sex. WHO declared it a global health emergency in August of last year.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters Friday that an emergency panel created after the outbreak has advised that the situation is no longer an international emergency, and “I have accepted that advice.”
WHO’s international emergency declaration, the agency’s highest level of warning about threatening health issues, triggers the release of resources and enhanced public awareness campaigns among other measures.
‘Threat not over’
“Of course, lifting the emergency declaration does not mean the threat is over, nor that our response will stop,” the WHO chief said.
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On Thursday, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said Mpox still constitutes a continental health emergency.
In a statement, the Africa CDC said the Emergency Consultative Group, which advises the director general of Africa CDC on mpox, urged that the Public Health Emergency of Continental Security (PHECS) remain in place to preserve political will, mobilise resources and keep countries on high alert.
The group’s review of the mpox situation indicated that there were surges in countries such as Ghana, Liberia, Kenya, Zambia and Tanzania, even when weekly confirmed cases declined by 52%.
Rare disease
Mpox is a rare disease caused by infection with a virus that’s in the same family as the one that causes smallpox.
It is endemic in parts of Africa, where people have been infected through bites from rodents or small animals. Milder symptoms can include fever, chills and body aches. In more serious cases, people can develop lesions on the face, hands, chest and genitals.
