NAIROBI: The African Union's health watchdog said on Thursday it is “likely” to declare a public health emergency next week due to the growing outbreak of mpox on the continent.
The decision will unlock funding to fight the outbreak, including procuring much-needed vaccines, and trigger a coordinated continental response to the virus.
Jean Kaseya, director of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), said during an online media briefing that the declaration of the health emergency was “likely” next week.
At least 16 of the continent's 55 countries have been affected by mpox, according to the Africa CDC.
About 38,465 cases and 1,456 deaths have been reported in Africa since January 2022.
Of these, 887 cases and five deaths were reported last week, according to data from the Africa CDC.
“We are going from two outbreaks per week to three new outbreaks per week,” Kaseya said, adding that there was a shortage of vaccines on the continent.
Formerly known as monkeypox, mpox is an infectious disease caused by a virus that is transmitted to humans by infected animals but can also be transmitted from person to person through close physical contact.
The disease causes fever, muscle aches and large abscess-like skin lesions.
The World Health Organization announced on Wednesday that it is urgently convening an expert committee to advise on whether the growing mpox outbreak in Africa should be declared an international emergency.
“The committee will meet as soon as possible and will consist of independent experts from a range of relevant disciplines from around the world,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a news conference.
The committee will advise him on whether the outbreak represents a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) – the highest level of alert the WHO can sound.
Only Tedros, as WHO Director-General, can declare a PHEIC, based on the expert committee's advice. A declaration then triggers emergency measures in countries worldwide under the legally binding International Health Regulations.
Mpox was first discovered in humans in 1970 in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
There are two subtypes of the virus: the more virulent and more lethal Clade I, endemic to the Congo Basin in central Africa; and Clade II, endemic to West Africa.
In May 2022, mpox infections increased worldwide, mostly affecting gay and bisexual men, due to the Clade IIb subset.
Deadlier and more transmissible than previous forms, the mpox strain that has been on the rise in the Democratic Republic of Congo since September, known as the Clade Ib subclade, is spread from person to person.
The Clade Ib strain causes skin rashes all over the body, unlike other strains where lesions and rashes are usually limited to the mouth, face and genitals.
