WHO declares global health emergency over spread of mpox

The World Health Organization (WHO), following the advice of its committee, declared this Wednesday (14) a “Global Health Emergency” for monkeypox, due to the proliferation of several cases.

The number of cases this year has already surpassed all cases in 2023, with 14,000 cases and more than 500 deaths. Since the beginning of this year, the number of cases has been increasing rapidly.

According to information from Tedros Adhanom, Director-General of the WHO: “I announced that I was convening an emergency committee under international health regulations to assess the increasing cases of MPOX in the Democratic Republic of Congo and other countries in Africa.”, he said at a press conference.

There are already 70 countries affected by the virus, which is different from the one detected in 2022, due to the rapid spread of a new subtype of MPOX in eastern DRC, and also, with several cases in neighboring countries where they had not been previously reported.

Embed from Getty Images

_{A doctor examines a patient with wounds caused by a monkeypox infection at the Arzobispo Loayza hospital in Lima on August 16, 2022. (Photo: Getty Images embed)}

Highest level of alertness in the organization

Therefore, in this case, a public health emergency at international level is configured, which leads to the organization's highest alert level, thus demonstrating the importance of combating the spread of MPOX, which is very worrying.

Tedros also said: “In addition to outbreaks of other MPOX subtypes in other parts of Africa, it is clear that a coordinated international response is essential to stop these outbreaks and save lives.”.

Spread by sexual contact

The MPOX virus has two lineages. One is milder and was the one that gained prominence in 2022, and was associated with transmission through sexual intercourse due to its widespread global spread. However, at the end of 2023, a new version was identified that is 10 times more lethal than the previous one, and most of its spread also occurs through sexual contact.

Featured photo: Healthcare worker wearing gloves holding sample tube labeled 'Monkeypox' (Image credit: David Talukdar/Getty Images embed)