The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the ongoing mpox outbreak in Africa a global health emergency, citing the spread of a deadlier strain of the virus, clade Ib, to previously unaffected provinces. This declaration follows a similar announcement by the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus made the declaration after consulting with independent experts, stating that the outbreak poses a public health risk to other countries through international spread. This is the highest level of alarm under international health law, known as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC).

The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention reported over 17,000 cases and 500 deaths in 13 African countries since the beginning of the year, classifying the outbreak as a “very high risk event.” The Democratic Republic of Congo has been the hardest hit, with over 14,000 cases.

Mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, is a viral disease that can spread easily between people and from infected animals. Symptoms include fever, painful rash, headache, muscle and back pain, low energy, and enlarged lymph nodes.

WHO previously declared the spread of mpox a global health emergency in July 2022 and ended it in May 2023.

WHO officials are calling for international cooperation in financing and organizing efforts to quell the outbreak, with a regional response plan requiring $15 million, and $1.45 million already released from the WHO Contingency Fund for Emergencies.