Due to an outbreak of Mpox cases in several African countries, the WHO emergency committee on the disease will meet “as soon as possible” to determine whether to declare the highest level of alert.
- In response to the outbreak of monkeypox in the Democratic Republic of Congo and neighbouring African countries, the WHO Director-General has convened an emergency committee.
- This meeting, which will take place “as soon as possible”, will allow us to assess whether the highest level of alert should be declared.
- This qualification is the highest alert that the health authority can trigger and it is the head of the organization who can launch it on the advice of the committee.
On August 4, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that it was considering convening an expert committee to assess whether the outbreak of “monkeypox,” now called Mpox, should be declared an international emergency. On August 7, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the health authority’s director-general, said he had taken action. “Given the spread of Mpox outside the Democratic Republic of Congo and the possibility of further international spread within and outside Africa, I have decided to convene an emergency committee,” he wrote on the social network X. This qualification is the highest alert that the WHO can trigger. The former Ethiopian minister added that “The committee will meet as soon as possible and will be composed of independent experts from a range of relevant disciplines from around the world.”
In 1970, the Mpox virus was first detected in the DRC
As a reminder, the Mpox virus manifests itself as a rash or lesions, accompanied by fever, headache, muscle aches, back pain, decreased energy and swollen lymph nodes. The latter was first discovered in humans in 1970 in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which was called Zaire at the time, with the spread of the Clade I subtype. Since then, it has been mainly limited to certain countries in West and Central Africa. Historically, most patients have been infected by infected animals. Today, the virus is also transmitted to humans through contact with skin lesions or biological fluids, or indirectly via contaminated materials (such as bedding or surfaces). It could also possibly occur through respiratory droplets from an infected person.
Monkeypox: more than 14,000 cases and 511 deaths in Congo
In September 2023, a new strain of Clade I, called “Clade Ib”, which is more deadly, was detected in the Democratic Republic of Congo. “Over the past month, approximately 50 confirmed cases and more suspected cases (linked to clade Ib) have been reported in four countries neighbouring the DRC that had not previously reported: Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda. Clade 2 has been reported in Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Liberia, Nigeria and South Africa,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. On July 21, the spokesman for the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Patrick Muyayahad reported that the cumulative number of suspected monkeypox cases stood at 11,166, including 450 deaths, representing a case fatality rate of 4 percent. The western province of Equateur was the worst affected, according to a report by the country’s health ministry. In a press releasethe WHO director recently gave new figures: more than 14,000 cases and 511 deaths in the territory.
“I have initiated the process of registering the two vaccines against Mpox on the emergency use list”
WHO explained that it has developed a $15 million regional response plan to support surveillance, preparedness and response activities. “This is in addition to the release of $1 million from an emergency fund to support the scale-up of the response, with more to come.”
Currently, two Mpox vaccines have been approved by WHO-listed national regulatory authorities and recommended by its expert group on immunization, Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE). “I have triggered the process of listing both vaccines for emergency use, which will accelerate access to the vaccine, particularly for lower-income countries, which have not yet issued their own national regulatory approval.”concluded Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.