On August 7, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that it will convene an emergency committee to determine whether the ongoing mpox outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo constitutes a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC).
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!The outbreak in Congo has led to approximately 27,000 cases and over 1,100 deaths, mostly among children, since the start of 2023. The WHO also reported that 50 new mpox cases have been confirmed, with more suspected in neighboring countries including Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda, where the virus had not been previously detected.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated that the decision to convene the emergency committee was prompted by the virus’s spread to neighboring countries and the potential risk of further international transmission both within and beyond Africa.
The emergency committee, composed of international experts, will provide technical advice and recommendations to the WHO on whether the outbreak should be classified as a PHEIC, the organization’s highest level of alert. The final decision will be made by the WHO Director-General.
The WHO is accelerating its response by releasing $1 million from its contingency fund for emergencies and plans to allocate additional funds in the coming days. Tedros also mentioned that the WHO is fast-tracking the emergency use listing of two mpox vaccines, Bavarian Nordic’s Jynneos and KM Biologics’ LC16, which were approved for use in Congo in June.
The outbreak began with the spread of an endemic strain known as Clade I. However, a new variant, Clade Ib, which appears to spread more easily through routine close contact, has been confirmed in Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda, with analysis still ongoing in Burundi.
Previously, a different, less severe variant of mpox, Clade IIb, spread globally in 2022, primarily through sexual contact among men who have sex with men, leading the WHO to declare a public health emergency at that time. Although that emergency has ended, the WHO continues to monitor the disease as a significant health threat.
