World Health Organization declares ultra-deadly monkeypox strain a public health emergency of international concern

The World Health Organization today declared a highly deadly strain of monkeypox a global public health emergency.

Officials said the virus outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo and neighboring countries raised “international concern” – the WHO’s highest alert level.

The hope is to accelerate research and garner more funding and public health measures to contain the virus, which is more contagious and many times more deadly than the one that caused the global outbreak in 2022.

There have been no reported cases in the latest outbreak in the U.S., but the CDC advises doctors to watch for symptoms such as skin rashes and lesions.

The virus still spreads mainly through sex and mainly affects gay and bisexual men.

WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Wednesday: “It is clear that a coordinated international response is essential to stop these outbreaks and save lives.”

The DRC has a densely populated population that frequently travels and crosses borders, which poses the risk that the new MPOX variant, which is spread through physical contact, could eventually spread outside the country.

According to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 17,000 suspected cases of monkeypox, now called mpox, and 517 deaths have been reported this year on the African continent alone, a 160 percent increase compared to the same period last year.

A total of 13 countries have reported cases. And in the past month, at least 50 mpox cases have been reported in four other countries bordering the DRC — countries that have not previously encountered the virus.

These include Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda.

Mpox caused an international epidemic in 2022 when the disease spread to more than 100 countries, killing hundreds of people, including 58 Americans.

That outbreak was caused by the milder clade 2 strain, which is rarely fatal.

But the DRC has been struggling for more than a year to contain a deadlier version of the virus, known as clade 1a, which kills up to 10 percent of those infected.

The new mutated strain, dubbed “clad 1b,” appears to be just as deadly.

CDC officials said the latest surge in MPOX cases in DRC is the “largest surge of MPOX cases ever.” It includes 19,919 cases and 975 deaths

In a report published in May, CDC officials called this the “largest surge of MPOX cases ever recorded” in the DRC.

Clad 1b has been confirmed in Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda, and the virus found in Burundi is still being analyzed.

Dr Josie Golding, head of epidemics and epidemiology at infectious diseases organisation Wellcome in the UK, said: ‘Epidemics pose a threat to health and health equity worldwide. The current surge in cases in Africa shows the ongoing and growing threat posed by mpox.’

‘We must not wait for diseases to escalate and cross borders before we take action. Effective outbreak control requires sustained, coordinated efforts worldwide – from local and national governments, and public and private industry to funders, regulators and NGOs.’

WHO supports two vaccines to prevent mpox infection.

The organization advises getting vaccinated within four days of contact with someone who has the virus, or within a maximum of 14 days if there are no symptoms.

Healthcare providers and men who have sex with men are advised to be vaccinated, even if they have not come into contact with mpox.

Symptoms of mpox include rash, skin lesions, fever, headache, muscle aches, back pain, and swollen lymph nodes.

It is spread through physical contact such as kissing or sex, animals in cooking, contaminated equipment, and pregnant women who can transmit the virus to a fetus.

There is no direct cure for mpox, but doctors try to treat the symptoms, including clearing the rash and relieving the pain.