WHO declares Congo MPOX outbreak global emergency

The World Health Organization declared the outbreak of the Mpox new virus strain in the Congo and elsewhere in Africa a global emergency.

“The detection and rapid spread of a new Clade of mpox in eastern DRC, its detection in neighbouring countries that had not previously reported mpox, and the potential for further spread within Africa and beyond is very worrying,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.

More funding is needed to counter the outbreak of the virus. The WHO said it needs $15 million (€13.6 million) to support Africa’s mpox response, and that it has already released $1.45 million (€1.32 million) from its emergency reserves.

More than 14,000 mpox cases and 524 deaths have been reported in at least 13 African countries in 2024, including Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda, which reported their first cases of the new strain in recent weeks.

The Mpox virus is transmitted to humans through close contact with an infected animal or person.

Human to human transmission can happen through dfirect contact with skin lesions, body fluids, or respiratory droplets of an infected person, prolonged face-to-face contact with an infected person, or Touching contaminated objects, such as bedding or clothing that have been in contact with the infectious material, although this is a rare mode of transmission.

Symptoms include fever, headache, muscle aches, and a distinctive rash that can appear on the face, hands, feet, and other parts of the body. The rash eventually forms pustules and scabs before healing.