On Thursday, the World Health Organisation declared that the multi-country mpox virus outbreak, which began approximately a year ago, was no longer a global public health emergency.
In a press conference with reporters in Geneva, Switzerland, Tedros Ghebreyesus, the director general of the WHO, said this.
Mpox is a less dangerous cousin of the now-extinct smallpox virus. It is endemic to parts of West and Central Africa and is typically contracted through a rodent or small mammal. The virus can be transmitted by touching bodily fluids, open wounds, or infected items like contaminated clothing and bedding. It can also spread from person to person in close quarters via respiratory droplets.
The emergency committee for the mpox meeting’s recommendations state that the multi-country mpox outbreak is no longer a public health emergency of international concern. That advice was taken to heart, and I’m pleased to report that mpox is no longer a global health emergency.
Like with COVID-19, the task must still be completed. He asserts that Mpox continues to threaten the public’s health seriously and demands a robust, proactive, and sustained response.
The PUNCH reports that on May 5, 2023, WHO announced that COVID-19 was no longer a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC), more than three years after the outbreak’s designation as a PHEIC in January 2020, almost six weeks before it was called a pandemic.
More than 87,000 Mpox cases had been documented, and 140 deaths had been reported to the organisation from 111 different countries, the DG continued.
Ghebreyesus urged nations to keep up their testing capabilities and capacity to act swiftly in the event of new outbreaks.
