Aug 5, 2024 - Health

WHO warns on deadlier strain of mpox

Adriel Bettelheim

Medical personnel prepares a syringe with mpox vaccine during the 2022 outbreak. Photo: Emmanuele Contini/NurPhoto via Getty Images

The World Health Organization is weighing discussions on whether to declare an international public health emergency as a deadlier strain of mpox spreads in Africa.

Why it matters: Vaccines and public health surveillance could control the virus, which is killing about 3% of those infected with a new strain in Africa this year and spreading via sex, Science reports.

Driving the news: WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus wrote Sunday on X that he's considering convening an advisory committee to discuss whether an emergency should be declared.

Local governments and partners are scaling up a response, but more funding and support are needed, he wrote.
Mpox — previously known as monkeypox — has risen by 160% in Africa this year compared with 2023, according to the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
While the vast majority of cases are in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, outbreaks have been reported in 15 countries.

Context: Less than 1% of infected people died during the global mpox emergency in 2022.

Researchers are examining how well mpox vaccines can work after people have become infected.

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WHO warns on deadlier strain of mpox

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