GENEVA - The head of the World Health Organization said Wednesday he will convene an expert group to determine if the increasing spread of the mpox virus in Africa warrants being declared a global emergency. At a press briefing in Geneva, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that given the increasing spread of mpox cases beyond Congo, he has decided to ask independent experts to advise WHO “as soon as possible.” Top health headlines, all in one place Last week, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that mpox, also known as monkeypox, has now been detected in 10 African countries this year including Congo, which has more than 96 per cent of all cases and deaths.
Compared with the same time period last year, the agency said cases are up 160 per cent and deaths have jumped by 19 per cent. Officials at the Africa CDC said nearly 70 per cent of cases in Congo are in children younger than 15, who also accounted for 85 per cent of deaths. Mpox was reported last week in Burundi and Rwanda for the first time while other countries including Kenya and the Central African Republic also identified cases.
WHO's Tedros said the agency has released US$1 million from its emergency fund to support the response to mpox, also known as monkeypox. Earlier this year, scientists reported the emergence of a new form of the deadlier version of mpox, which can kill up 10 per cent of people, in a Congolese mining town that they feared might spread more easily.