The WHO mpox public health emergency of international concern declaration: Need for reprioritisation of global public health responses to combat the MPXV Clade I epidemic
Shui Shan Lee, Tieble Traore, Alimuddin Zumla
Abstract
On 14 August 2024, Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the upsurge of mpox in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and a growing number of countries in Africa a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) [1]. This came only one year after the end of the 10-month long emergency state in 2022/2023, and day after the continental declaration of mpox as a public health security concern [2]. In the year leading to the current declaration, the global burden of mpox cases and associated deaths has grown significantly.
Topics & Concepts
DeclarationPublic healthCladeEnvironmental healthPolitical scienceMedicineBiologyLawNursingPhylogeneticsGeneticsGenePoxvirus research and outbreaksBacillus and Francisella bacterial researchVirology and Viral Diseases