He World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the end of the Mpox virus outbreak as a public health emergency.
WHO Director General Tedros Ghebreyesus made the announcement Thursday at a press conference in Geneva following an emergency committee meeting.
In July 2022, the world body declared Mpox a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC), which is the highest alert level the WHO can issue, as cases increased rapidly.
As of May 8, the WHO said more than 87,000 Mpox cases and 140 deaths had been reported in 111 countries.
decrease in cases
In a video posted on the organization’s official Facebook page, the WHO Director-General explained that the decision to end PHEIC status was due to declining infections worldwide, but stressed that the disease was still ongoing. being contagious.
Mr. Ghebreyesus noted that nearly 90 percent fewer Mpox cases were reported in the last three months compared to cases of the same duration.
“However, as with COVID-19, that does not mean the job is done. Mpox continues to pose significant public health challenges that need a robust, proactive and sustainable response,” he said.
He added that the world body is particularly concerned about African countries that are dealing with Mpox long before the global outbreak began and could continue to deal with it for some time.
“While the Mpox and COVID-19 emergencies are over, the threat of resurgent waves remains for both. Both viruses continue to circulate and both continue to kill,” Ghebreyesus said.
More cases in non-endemic countries
The current Mpox outbreak started in the UK, linking confirmed infections and different strains to West Africa.
Before the outbreak, most cases occurred in countries where the virus was endemic. However, the WHO has reported that the most recent cases have been detected in gay, bisexual or other men who have sex with men, particularly in non-endemic countries.
The WHO reiterated that the “sudden and unexpected” appearance of monkeypox in these countries suggests that it may have gone undetected for some time.
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CDC data shows that the current outbreak affected 104 countries that have historically not reported Mpox, while only seven are endemic.
Endemic countries are the Central African Republic, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, and the Republic of the Congo.
The breakdown of cases shows that the ten non-endemic countries with the highest accumulated number of cases worldwide continue to be the United States of America, Brazil, Spain, France, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Canada.
About Mpox
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Mpox was first discovered in 1958 when two outbreaks of a smallpox-like illness occurred in colonies of monkeys kept for research.
The first human case of Mpox was recorded in 1970 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) during a period of intense effort to eliminate smallpox.
Since then, Mpox has been reported in people from several other West and Central African countries: Cameroon, Central African Republic, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Liberia, Nigeria, Republic of the Congo, and Sierra Leone. .
There are two types of Mpox virus: Clade I and Clade II. Infections in the current outbreak are Clade II, or more specifically, Clade IIb.