The World Health Organisation (WHO) have declared a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) following a rise in mpox cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and a growing number of other African countries.
The declaration follows advice of an IHR Emergency Committee of independent experts who met last week to review data presented from the WHO and affected countries. The committee considered the upsurge of mpox has the potential to spread further across countries in Africa and possibly outside the continent.
The UK Health Security Agency are the UK’s lead agency for tackling mpox.
The emergence last year and rapid spread of a new virus strain in DRC, clade 1b, is one of the main reasons for the declaration. Currently, there have been no cases of Clade 1 mpox confirmed in the UK, with UKHSA assessing the risk to the UK population as low.
The agency also welcomed the release of WHO funds to accelerate vaccine access for lower-income countries and support surveillance, preparedness and response activities.
Further guidance can be found here.
