World Health Organization Declares Monkeypox a 'Global Health Emergency'

On Wednesday, August 15, the World Health Organization declared the outbreak of 'monkeypox' a 'global health emergency' and stated that a new strain of the virus is spreading. This comes as few vaccine doses are available in Africa. This is the second time in three years that the WHO has classified the monkeypox epidemic, now known as 'mpox', as a global emergency. Since the beginning of this year, over 14,000 cases and 524 deaths have been reported in the Democratic Republic of the Congo alone. Earlier this week, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention declared the outbreak of 'mpox' a public health emergency and called for international assistance to prevent further spread of the virus. Tedros Adhanom, the WHO Director-General, described the potential for further spread of this virus in Africa and beyond as 'very concerning.' In 2022, the WHO declared the disease a global emergency after it spread to over 70 countries that had previously reported no cases, primarily affecting gay and bisexual men. In that year's outbreak, less than one percent of infected individuals died. In Iran, the first case of 'mpox' was confirmed in August 2022 in a 34-year-old woman in Ahvaz. Officials from the Africa CDC report that currently nearly 70% of cases in Congo involve children under 15 years old, accounting for 85% of deaths. An epidemiologist in Congo told the Associated Press that one of the worst cases he has seen involved a six-week-old infant who was allowed to share a room with an undiagnosed infected person due to hospital overcrowding. This disease, which previously spread mainly through the consumption of contaminated meat or close contact with infected animals and individuals, has resulted in higher mortality rates among children suffering from malnutrition or infectious diseases like cholera, measles, and polio. Experts say that if the outbreak spreads globally, children in developed countries will be less vulnerable to severe disease. 'Mpox' is a viral disease that spreads easily between individuals and from infected animals. The WHO states that the disease can spread through close contact such as touching, kissing, or sexual relations, as well as through contaminated items like bedding, clothing, and needles. Unlike previous outbreaks of 'mpox', where skin lesions were more prominent on the chest, hands, and feet, the new form causes milder symptoms and lesions in the genital area, making diagnosis more difficult and allowing individuals to unknowingly infect others. Although the emergency declaration by the WHO is intended to encourage countries to take action, prepare, and share available vaccines, the global response to previous announcements has been deemed insufficient by many experts. The WHO reported a 21% decrease in monkeypox cases globally. The first case of monkeypox in a dog has been identified, and the first case in Iran has also been confirmed. Global concerns about the spread of 'monkeypox' continue alongside the ongoing fight against the Omicron variant of COVID-19. The United States has declared a health emergency due to the monkeypox outbreak, with the WHO reporting that 18,000 people in 78 countries have been infected. The European Commission has approved a Danish company's monkeypox vaccine, and the U.S. is importing hundreds of thousands of doses. British researchers have noted that monkeypox has different symptoms compared to previous outbreaks. The trend of increasing monkeypox cases continues, with the WHO considering renaming the virus. U.S. health officials have ruled out the possibility of airborne transmission of monkeypox, and the U.S. health agency has raised its alert level due to the global increase in monkeypox cases. One day after reports of monkeypox in Iran, the Ministry of Health stated that no cases have been found.