WHO declares new Mpox strain health emergency, more lethal

A new variant of the Mpox disease declared by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as a public health emergency of international concern, is more lethal, spreads fast and causes more fatalities.

WHO declared the disease an international public health emergency on Tuesday, following a surge of cases in at least 13 countries in Africa.

Kenya, Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda and South Africa are among countries that have reported the disease that had been, until recently, domiciled in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) since the 1970s.

Speaking to The Standard yesterday on why WHO is concerned, Prof Julius Oyugi, Director of Research at the University of Nairobi’s Institute of Tropical and Infectious Diseases, said at least six out of 100 people who get infected with the variant succumb to the disease.

The variant also affects the immunocompromised population, including children and pregnant women.

“Clade 1 MPXV of Mpox is a new version that never used to exist. It is spreading fast and causing fatalities,” he said. “A major concern with the outbreak of Mpox is the new variant. Diseases that spread through sexual intercourse are difficult to control, for example, among sex workers, men having sex with men, and the public at large.”

Prof Oyugi also explained that Mpox is not a new disease like Covid-19, as it has been endemic in DRC and the Great Lakes region for decades.

“Mpox has been occurring in low numbers. This has been the norm for years. But it is now spreading beyond where it was confined, the virus is changing,” he said.

WHO Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said the declaration was made following a surge in infections. Tedros said although the disease has been reported in DRC for more than a decade, the number of cases reported each year has increased steadily over that period.

Last year, reported cases increased significantly and already the number of cases reported this year has exceeded last year’s total with more than 14,000 cases and 524 deaths.

“WHO has been working on Mpox outbreak in Africa and raising the alarm that this is something that should concern us all.

“Today, the emergency committee met and advised me that the situation consists of a public health emergency of international concern. I have accepted that advice.

“The claim of outbreak of Mpox in other parts of Africa is clear, and that coordinated international response has the potential to stop further outbreaks and save lives,” he said.

WHO’s declaration was done after the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) declared the disease a public health emergency.

“A public health emergency of international concern is the highest level of alert and international health law. The international health committee advised me, and that of Africa CDC which yesterday (Monday) declared emergency of regional security are aligned,’ he said.

Tedros said WHO is closely working with affected countries and others at risk through country and regional offices as well as partners, including Africa CDC, non-governmental organisations and civil societies.

“For example, we are providing nations to analyse blood samples and combine cases of Mpox by supporting laboratories to sequence samples. We are on the ground supporting case investigation and contact tracing, risk communication and community engagement,” said Tedros.

Further, WHO is training health workers to provide appropriate care, in addition to supporting countries to access vaccines and develop the strategies to roll them out.

“WHO has developed a regional response plan requiring $15 million. We have released about $1.5 million from WHO contingency fund for emergencies, and we plan to release more in the coming days. We are also appealing to donors to fund to assist in the response plan. WHO is committed in the days and weeks ahead to coordinating global response working with each of the affected countries and leveraging the ground presentation to prevent transmission, treat those infected and save lives. I thank the emergency committee for its work and advice,” he said.

The committee, chaired by Prof Dimie Ogoina, was tasked to find out whether the upsurge of Mpox in parts of Africa constituted a public health emergency of international concern.

In a review of the cases and risks, the committee said, “It was unanimous that the current outbreak is an extraordinary event in the view of facts that we are having the highest cases ever reported in DCR, since the outbreak was reported in the 1970s especially in 2024 with very significant upsurge in number of cases, with facts that children and pregnant women are also affected and mortalities have been reported”.

In East Africa, four countries- Kenya, Uganda, Burundi and Rwanda - are reporting cases for the first time. There is also an upsurge of cases in South Africa, with 24 cases reported this year alone, among them, three mortalities.

Prof Ogoina added that the disease is affecting people living with advanced HIV disease. “We also looked at the second criteria for declaring a health emergency of international concern that relates to whether it has public health risks of international spread.”

Mpox, he further noted, requires an internationally coordinated response to improve surveillance, and diagnosis and honour public health responses.

On her part, Dr Maria Van Kerkhove said there is a need to understand transmission patterns of the virus by studying epidemiology and understanding populations that are at greatest risk.