Mpox declared a global public health emergency by the WHO. As new, deadlier strain spreads in Africa, here's what to know.
As the mpox outbreak continues to grow in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern — again. The WHO made the same declaration in 2022, when the virus spread to many countries where it wasn’t already endemic, or consistently present. Wealthy Western nations were able to quickly stem the outbreaks, but little assistance arrived in the DRC and other African countries at the epicenter of the epidemic.
Now, infection rates are rising, the virus is evolving and the WHO is sounding the alarm again. Here’s what to know.
What did the WHO say?
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called the outbreak worrisome and said we should all be concerned. The WHO plans to send more diagnostics, treatments and vaccines to the DRC. However, experts stress that it may be months before vaccines make their way to that country and other affected parts of Africa.
What is mpox?
Previously known as “monkeypox,” the hallmark of the infection is a rash of flat sores that turn into liquid-filled blisters, which may be itchy or painful. It can also cause flu-like symptoms, including fever, head and body aches, swollen lymph nodes, chills and general exhaustion. Most cases in the outbreak that began in 2022 have been non-life-threatening, although the disease can be fatal to people with weak immune systems. Mpox is contagious through close contact and, in the U.S. and Europe, found a foothold among men who have sex with other men, spreading mostly in gay and bisexual communities.
Why is this happening now?
There are a few reasons, Dr. Boghuma Titanji, an assistant professor in Emory University’s infectious disease department, tells Yahoo Life. More than 14,000 cases of mpox have been reported in the DRC so far this year — exceeding the total for all of 2023 — and at least 524 people have died there, 240 of them children. The infection is four times more fatal for kids under 15 than it is for adults, according to the WHO and Save the Children.
Titanji says it’s not yet clear why the disease has become so deadly to children, but the prime suspect is a variation — or subclade — of the virus that has branched off and developed mutations that make it better at spreading between people. The new subclade may also be fueling the viruses spread across borders to other countries within the African continent, including Burundi, the Central African Republic, Kenya and Rwanda. That led the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention to declare a continent-wide public health emergency on Aug. 13. So far, however, no cases of the new subclade have been identified outside of the African subregion, Titanji notes.
Am I at risk of mpox now?
If you’re not in Central Africa, your risk has not increased. Although the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warned in May that the DRC’s outbreak poses a “global threat,” the agency continues to classify the overall risk of mpox to the general American public as “very low.” For men who have sex with other men and have multiple partners, the risk is considered “low to moderate.” However, the CDC notes that this group could be at risk if the latest version of mpox spreads to the U.S.
Although the U.S. has a good stockpile of vaccines and treatments for mpox, “we live in a very, very interconnected global village,” Titanji says. There are now outbreaks in 13 African countries. “These outbreaks are connected to the U.S. or Europe by just a couple of hours because it’s easy to get on a flight and travel,” says Titantji. “If we don’t address problems when they’re still small and affecting a relatively confined geographic location, then we could potentially have to deal with it within our own shores.”
What does the WHO’s declaration mean for the DRC and other African countries?
What the declaration means in practice remains to be seen, says Titanji. “The global outbreak has been going on since 2022” — when the WHO made its original public health emergency declaration — “and we still haven’t really seen containment of the outbreak in the African region,” she says. “What’s the difference this time around?”
The declaration is intended to be a “lever to signal the importance of this emergency, with the hope that it galvanizes resources to the area so the outbreak doesn’t spread,” Titanji explains. Ideally, that would mean that the international community pulls together to funnel funds, diagnostics, treatments and vaccines to the DRC and other hard-hit regions of Africa. But in 2022, the declaration “did not necessarily translate to the tools needed to fight the outbreak in Africa,” Titanji says. She notes that about 10% of mpox cases in the DRC are unconfirmed, because there aren’t enough diagnostic tools available there. And vaccines and antiviral medications that helped stem the U.S. outbreak so quickly are still in short supply in Africa.
During the press conference announcing the public health emergency declaration, the WHO said an estimated $15 million initial investment would be needed to fund surveillance, response and preparedness measures. The WHO also released $1.5 million toward the effort but called on donors to add to the pool.
