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.
