With mpox raging through Africa, and the possibility the virus will spread elsewhere, the World Health Organization on Wednesday declared a global health emergency. It's the second such declaration about the virus previously called monkeypox in three years, the CBC reports. The first one ended in mid-2003 when vaccination programs decreased the case count, after almost 100,000 people, primarily gay and bisexual men, in 116 countries were affected. About 200 people died, per the New York Times. There's reason to believe the outbreak this time, involving a highly transmissible form of the virus, is more threatening.
"It's in the interests of the countries, of the continent and of the world to get our arms around this and stop transmission as soon as we can," said Dr. Nicole Lurie, director of a nonprofit that finances vaccine development. The Democratic Republic of Congo has been hit hardest, though 18 African nations have logged thousands of infections. Aid organizations say that vulnerable infants in Congo hospitals have become ill. So far this year, more than 15,000 mpox cases and nearly 500 deaths have been identified in Africa, a 160% jump from the same period last year. The number of cases in the US was around 1,700 in 2023 but more than 30,000 the year before.
Congo has approved two mpox vaccines but has no immunization plan so far. The Africa CDC said 10 million doses will be needed to get the outbreak under control. This form of the virus has not been identified so far outside Africa, per the Times. Still, the emergency declaration is justified, a UCLA epidemiologist said. "I think we learned a great deal about the speed with which this virus can spread," Anne Rimoin said. (More mpox stories.)
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