WHO declares mpox outbreak a global health emergency
The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the ongoing mpox outbreak in Africa a global health emergency. This decision comes after concerns that a deadlier strain of the virus, clade Ib, has reached four previously unaffected countries in Africa. Mpox, caused by an Orthopoxvirus, was first detected in humans in 1970 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and is considered endemic to countries in central and west Africa.
This is the second time in 2 years that mpox has been declared a public health emergency of international concern by the WHO. The previous outbreak in 2020 was caused by a different strain, clade II, which is still present in some regions.
No cases of clade I mpox have been identified in the United States, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says, but it is monitoring the situation, and the US government has offered funding, assistance and vaccines to WHO and the DRC to support efforts in Africa.
Find the full article at: https://edition.cnn.com/2024/08/14/health/mpox-who-public-health-emergency/index.html
