The World Health Organization (WHO) announced on Friday that Mpox is no longer considered a global health emergency, following a steady decline in cases across Africa.
The UN health body had declared its highest alert level in August last year, when a new strain of Mpox began spreading from the Democratic Republic of Congo to neighbouring countries.
WHO chief Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said recent data shows “sustained declines in cases” in Congo as well as in Burundi, Sierra Leone, and Uganda.
Mpox spreads through close contact and typically causes flu-like symptoms and pus-filled skin lesions.
While most cases are mild, the disease can be fatal in rare instances.
Children, pregnant women, and people with weakened immune systems, such as HIV patients, remain particularly vulnerable.
Although Mpox is no longer classified as a global emergency, WHO stressed it continues to pose a public health risk.
The decision to downgrade was made on the advice of the agency’s Emergency Committee, which reviews the outbreak every three months.
“While we are removing the emergency, we need to keep the urgency,” Professor Dimie Ogoina from the Emergency Committee said.
“This is not a time for us to reduce the investments in terms of financial investment, partnership, solidarity, especially for most affected countries in the African continent,” he added.
Out of the recorded cases, there had been worrying levels of deaths among people living with HIV AIDS, particularly in Uganda and Sierra Leone, and signs of vulnerability among infants and children in Congo, Ogoina said.
The new form of Mpox clade Ib continues to predominantly impact sub-Saharan Africa.
There have also been travel-related cases in Thailand, Britain and other countries.
