WASHINGTON D.C . – The World Health Organization on Wednesday declared the ongoing mpox outbreak in Africa a global health emergency. WHO convened its emergency committee amid concerns that a deadlier strain of the virus, clade Ib, had reached four previously unaffected countries in Africa. This strain had previously been contained to the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The independent experts met virtually Wednesday to advise WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on the severity of the outbreak. After that consultation, he announced that he had declared a public health emergency of international concern — the highest level of alarm under international health law. “The detection and rapid spread of a new clade of mpox in eastern DRC, its detection in neighboring countries that had not previously reported mpox and the potential for further spread within Africa and beyond is very worrying,” he said.

“The emergency committee met and advised me that the situation constitutes a public health emergency of international concern. I have accepted that advice.” Also known as a PHEIC, this is a status given by WHO to “extraordinary events” that pose a public health risk to other countries through the international spread of disease. These outbreaks may require a coordinated international response, according to the organization.

“It was unanimous that the current outbreak of mpox, upsurge of mpox, is an extraordinary event,” committee Chair Dimie Ogoina said. “What we have in Africa is the tip of the iceberg. We are not recognizing, or we don’t have the full picture of, this burden of mpox.” The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention declared the outbreak a public health emergency of continental security on Tuesday, the first such declaration by the agency since its inception in 2017.

Since the beginning of the year, more than 17,000 mpox cases and more than 500 deaths have been reported in 13 countries in Africa, according to the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which classifies the outbreak as a “very high risk event.” The highest number of cases — more than 14,000 — is in the DRC, which reported 96% of confirmed cases this month.

Mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, is a viral disease that can spread easily between people and from infected animals. It can spread through close contact such as touching, kissing or sex, as well as through contaminated materials like sheets, clothing and needles, according to WHO. Symptoms include a fever, a painful rash, headache, muscle and back pain, low energy and enlarged lymph nodes.

Mpox is characterized by two genetic clades, I and II. A clade is a broad grouping of viruses that has evolved over decades and is a genetic and clinically distinct group. Clade II was responsible for the 2022 outbreak, but clade Ib causes more severe disease. “But we are not dealing with one outbreak of one clade; we are dealing with several outbreaks of different clades in different countries with different modes of transmission and different levels of risk,” Tedros clarified. (CNN)…[+]