WHO emergency committee meets about Mpox
Published: Wednesday, Aug 14th 2024, 13:00
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In view of a worrying variant of the dangerous viral disease Mpox in Africa, an emergency committee of the World Health Organization (WHO) is meeting in Geneva. Independent experts are discussing whether there is a risk of a major spread and whether the WHO should declare a "public health emergency of international concern" (PHEIC).
This is the WHO's highest alert level. This does not trigger any specific measures. Rather, it is intended to encourage authorities around the world to prepare for possible outbreaks. It is up to each country to decide what measures to take. The European health authority ECDC assessed the risk of the new variant spreading in Europe as "very low" at the end of July.
The African health authority CDC has already declared the outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo and neighboring countries a health emergency for the continent. According to the African CDC, this would allow more funds to be made available to support the countries in containing the outbreak.
The disease used to be called monkeypox because it was first detected in monkeys by chance. The WHO changed the name because it generally does not want to name diseases after animals, regions or countries.
Since the end of 2023, numerous cases of a new sublineage of the Mpox virus clade I (Roman one) have been discovered in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. According to observations on the ground, it could spread more easily and cause more severe courses of the disease. Studies on this are still pending. Mpox is characterized by a skin rash and usually fever, which can be life-threatening for young children.
In recent weeks, Mpox has spread from Congo to countries that previously had no cases: Burundi, Rwanda, Kenya and Uganda. There is a risk that the disease will also reach distant countries, said WHO Mpox expert Rosamund Lewis.
The committee meets virtually until 5 pm. It has not yet been decided whether a decision will be published shortly afterwards.
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