Global health emergency declared by World Health Organisation as mpox outbreak kills hundreds in Africa
A global health emergency has been declared by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as the mpox outbreak continues to spread through Africa, so far killing hundreds.
The highly contagious disease has already killed at least 450 people in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where the outbreak was initially reported. Formerly known as monkeypox, mpox has spread to other parts of the continent, including central and east Africa, at an alarming rate, with scientists concerned over its fast spread and high fatality rate.
WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said: “This is something that should concern us all … The potential for further spread beyond Africa and beyond is very worrying.” It comes after the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention announced earlier this week that the outbreak, which have been detected in 13 different countries, were a public health emergency, with at least 500 deaths reported. Salim Abdool Karim, a South African infectious diseases expert who chairs the Africa CDC emergency group, said: “We are now in a situation where (mpox) poses a risk to many more neighbours in and around central Africa.”
According to Mr Karim, the mpox outbreak stemming from the Congo has a death rate of around three to four percent. The Africa CDC added that 96% of all cases and reported deaths are in the Congo, while 70% of the Congo cases being reported in children younger than 15. children also account for 85% of deaths.
In 2022, a global health emergency was declared by WHO after it spread to 70 countries which had not previously reported mpox cases. The outbreak at the time mostly affected gay and bisexual men, with fewer than 1% of all cases becoming fatal.
Michael Marks, a professor of medicine at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said that WHO declaring a global health emergency for the latest outbreak in Africa is warranted if it leads to more support to contain the disease. He added: “It’s a failure of the global community that things had to get this bad to release the resources needed.”
Mpox spreads through close contact with those infected, including through sexual contact. The latest outbreak differs from previous symptoms seen in other outbreaks, with milder symptoms and lesions on the genitals making it harder to identify infection as early as possible.
Jacques Alonda, an epidemiologist working in Congo with international charities, described caring for a newborn baby who had contracted the disease. He said: “The worst case I’ve seen is that of a six-week-old baby who was just two weeks old when he contracted mpox. He got infected because hospital overcrowding meant he and his mother were forced to share a room with someone else who had the virus, which was undiagnosed.”