WHO declares end to mpox as global health emergency
The World Health Organization declared on Thursday that the multi-country mpox virus outbreak, which began about a year ago, was no longer a public health emergency of international concern.
Tedros Ghebreyesus, Director General of the World Health Organization, stated this to journalists in Geneva, Switzerland.
Mpox is a milder cousin of the now-extinct smallpox virus. It is endemic to parts of West and Central Africa and is usually spread by rodents or small mammals. Contact with contaminated body fluids, sores, or items such as clothing and bedding can spread the virus. It can also be passed from person to person via respiratory droplets in a close environment.
"The mpox emergency committee met and recommended to me that the multi-country mpox outbreak no longer constitutes a public health emergency of international concern." I've taken their advice, and I'm pleased to announce that mpox is no longer a global health emergency.
"However, as with COVID-19, this does not mean the work is finished." "Mpox remains a significant public health challenge that requires a robust, proactive, and long-term response," he said.
On May 5, 2023, the PUNCH reported that WHO declared COVID-19 no longer a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) after more than three years of declaring the outbreak a PHEIC in January 2020, about six weeks before characterizing it as a pandemic.
According to the DG, there have been over 87,000 cases of Mpox, with 140 deaths reported to the organization from 111 different countries.
Ghebreyesus, on the other hand, urged countries to maintain their testing capacity and ability to respond quickly to future outbreaks.
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