WHO warns on deadlier strain of mpox

WHO is considering declaring a public health emergency
A deadlier strain of mpox has spread from the DRC
Africa CDC says cases are up 160% from 2023

Updated: Aug 7, 2024 / 01:43 PM EDT

FILE – Vials of single doses of the Jynneos vaccine for mpox are seen from a cooler at a vaccinations site on Aug. 29, 2022, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. South African health authorities have reported two deaths from mpox in the space of three days. Health Minister Joe Phaahla says Thursday the two fatalities this week were among six recent confirmed cases of mpox in South Africa, all of them men in their 30s.(AP Photo/Jeenah Moon, File)

(NewsNation) — The World Health Organization is considering declaring a public health emergency as a deadlier strain of mpox is spreading in Africa.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X that the organization and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention are scaling up the response to mpox to interrupt disease transmission. According to the Africa CDC, cases of mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, have risen 160% compared with 2023.

“I am considering convening an International Health Regulations Emergency Committee to advise me on whether the outbreak of mpox should be declared a public health emergency of international concern,” Ghebreyesus wrote.

What to know about mpox

Mpox is a viral illness in which symptoms include a skin rash or mucosal lesions that can last 2–4 weeks accompanied by fever, headache, muscle aches, back pain, low energy, and swollen lymph nodes. There are two strains of mpox: Clade 1 and clade 2.

The milder variety, clade 1, erupted from Nigeria in 2022, spreading to almost 100,000 people in 166 countries, infecting mainly men who have sex with men. This strain has a fatality rate of 0.2%. A rollout of vaccines has slowed the spread.

The strain found in the Democratic Republic of Congo, clade 1, has killed about 3% of those infected in the past year.

Where it’s spreading

An unprecedented outbreak of mpox is happening in the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to Science magazine.

Previously, most cases occurred in children in remote villages who caught the disease from rodents. This year, nearly 14,000 cases have been reported in the DRC, and for the first time sexual transmission in adults has been a major driver.

Cases of the current, deadlier strain were reported in Kenya and Uganda as the disease is spreading outside of the DRC.

What’s being done

The DRC recently approved two vaccines, and the U.S. donated 50,000 doses which have yet to be used.

According to Science magazine, there is evidence that mpox vaccines may work after people have become infected with the virus. The nonprofit Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations will work with the Canadian Institutes of Health Research in a clinical trial to test this evidence.

Ghebreyesus said in a statement to Science magazine he does not want to delay action, but it is not clear how soon the WHO might convene health experts to decide whether to declare a public health emergency of international concern.

“This virus can and must be contained with intensified public health measures including surveillance, community engagement, treatment, and targeted deployment of vaccines for those at higher risk of infection,” Ghebreyesus stressed in his statement.