The World Health Organization is considering declaring an international health emergency over an outbreak of a deadlier strain of mpox — formerly known as monkeypox.
The new strain of the disease, renamed to mpox, is more infectious and has a 3% fatality rate, compared to the 1% fatality rate of the 2022 outbreak, Science reported. The outbreak began in the Democratic Republic of the Congo but recently spread to neighboring countries. The new strain is called clade 1.
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo alone, 14,000 cases and 450 deaths were reported so far this year.
New cases were recorded in Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, and Burundi. The spread has prompted WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus to consider sounding the WHO’s highest level of alarm.
“I am considering convening an International Health Regulations Emergency Committee to advise me on whether the outbreak of mpox should be declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern,” Tedros told Science.
“This virus can and must be contained with intensified public health measures including surveillance, community engagement, treatment, and targeted deployment of vaccines for those at higher risk of infection,” Tedros added.
He called for more funding for a better response, saying that money for “diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccines is urgently needed.”
Placide Mbala, an epidemiologist at the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s National Institute of Biomedical Research, said the spread to other countries was predictable because residents of the epicenter of the outbreak, in the eastern part of the country, are “very mobile,” with “great connection with neighboring countries.”
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The WHO, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and European Center for Disease Prevention and Control first sounded the alarm in December. No cases of the new strain have been recorded in the United States so far, but physicians are still urging caution.
The outbreak of mpox in 2022, primarily spread through sexual contact between men, triggered a public health crisis that drew concerns about a repeat of the coronavirus pandemic. Cases tapered off by the end of the year, and President Joe Biden ended his emergency declaration soon after.