The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the spread of mpox (or monkeypox) a global public health emergency. Worried by a rise in cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo and their spread to nearby countries, the WHO hastily convened a meeting of experts to study the outbreak on Wednesday. More than 14,000 cases and 524 deaths reported so far this year in DR Congo had already exceeded last year’s total.
“Today, the emergency committee met and advised me that in its view, the situation constitutes a public health emergency of international concern. I have accepted that advice,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a press conference.
A ‘public health emergency of international concern’ is the highest level of alarm under the International Health Regulations, which are legally binding on 196 countries.
Mr Ghebreyesus further told that “the detection and rapid spread of a new clade of mpox in eastern DRC, its detection in neighbouring countries that had not previously reported mpox, and the potential for further spread within Africa and beyond is very worrying.”
The National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) of Pakistan took immediate notice of the situation and will meet today (Thursday) to take stock of measures in place to stem the spread of outbreak.
In a further development, the first case of mpox has been reported from KP Province of Pakistan on Thursday during the meeting of the NCOC. The spokesperson for the centre informed that a total of eleven cases including one death have been reported in Pakistan since April, 2023.
