Second global emergency in two years from the World Health Organization

The World Health Organization (WHO) has taken action due to the mpox virus spreading from the Democratic Republic of the Congo to neighboring countries.

Following the spread of the virus to Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda, the WHO has declared a global public health emergency for the second time in two years due to the mpox virus.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated, "It is clear that a coordinated international response is essential to stop these outbreaks and save lives."

A global public health emergency is known as the WHO's highest level of alert and aims to accelerate research, funding, international public health measures, and cooperation to bring a disease under control.

'PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCY' HAD ALSO BEEN DECLARED IN AFRICA

The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) had declared a "public health emergency" across the continent yesterday due to the mpox virus spreading from the Democratic Republic of the Congo to neighboring countries.

Africa CDC reported that more than 17 thousand cases and 517 deaths caused by mpox have been recorded on the continent so far this year, stating that this represents a 160 percent increase compared to the same period last year. A total of 13 countries in Africa have reported cases.

FIRST DETECTED IN CONGO

Mpox has been considered endemic in parts of Africa for decades after it was first detected in humans in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1970. A milder variant of the virus spread to more than 100 countries in 2022, largely through sexual contact, and led the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare a global public health emergency, its highest level of alert. The WHO ended the emergency 10 months later, stating that the health crisis had been brought under control.