The World Health Organisation declared a global health emergency over an outbreak that has spread to more than a dozen African countries. Mpox was declared a global health emergency Wednesday for the second time in three years, as the World Health Organisation urged action on a virus spreading rapidly through more than a dozen African countries. The outbreak is most severe in the Congo, which has reported 15,600 mpox cases and 537 deaths, according to the UN agency.
The mpox epidemic there has already proved more deadly than one in 2022, the last time an emergency was announced. Here is what to know about mpox, which was known as monkeypox before health officials, responding to complaints about the word, recommended its current name in 2022. What is mpox and how is it spread?.