The World Health Organization (WHO) has once again classified monkeypox as
a global health emergency, marking the second such declaration in two years.
This decision follows a rapidly spreading outbreak of a new, highly contagious
strain of the virus in Africa.
The declaration was made based on recommendations
from an International Health Regulations (IHR) Emergency Committee, which
convened earlier to assess data provided by WHO experts and representatives
from affected countries.
"The emergence of
a new clade of mpox, its rapid spread in eastern DRC, and the reporting of
cases in several neighbouring countries are very worrying,” said WHO
Director-General Dr TedrosAdhanomGhebreyesus in an official statement. “On top
of outbreaks of other mpox clades in DRC and other countries in Africa, it’s
clear that a coordinated international response is needed to stop these
outbreaks and save lives,” they added.
“What we have in Africa is the tip of the iceberg.
… We are not recognising, or we don’t have the full picture of, this burden of
mpox,” committee Chair DimieOgoina said.