It’s official. Mpox, formerly known as Monkeypox, is a global health emergency. The World Health Organization has declared the spread of mpox a hazard and has warned that the virus might ultimately cross international borders.
The announcement by WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus came after a meeting of the UN health agency’s emergency committee. It came a day after the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention declared mpox a public health emergency on the continent on Tuesday. WHO said there have been more than 14,000 cases and 524 deaths in Africa this year, which already exceed last year’s figures.
So far, more than 96 per cent of all cases and deaths are in a single country — Congo. But on Friday, Sweden announced that it had reported its first case of mpox. Scientists are concerned by the spread of a new version of the disease there that might be more easily transmitted among people.
But what do we know about mpox? What are health agencies doing to contain it? Let’s take a closer look:.
