The World Health Organisation on Thursday declared that the multi-country outbreak of the mpox virus, which began around a year ago was no longer a public health emergency of international concern.
The WHO Director General, Tedros Ghebreyesus, said this
while speaking to journalists in Geneva, Switzerland
Mpox is a less severe cousin of the now-eradicated smallpox
virus. It is endemic to parts of West and Central Africa and has typically been
contracted from a rodent or small mammal. The virus can spread through contact
with body fluids, sores or items such as clothing and bedding contaminated with
the virus. Also, it can be spread from person to person through respiratory
droplets, typically in a close setting.
“The emergency committee for mpox met and recommended to me
that the multi-country outbreak of mpox no longer represents a public health
emergency of international concern. I have accepted that advice and I’m pleased
to declare that mpox is no longer a global health emergency.
“However, as with COVID-19, that does not mean that the work
is over. Mpox continues to pose significant public health challenges that need
a robust, proactive and sustainable response,” he said.
On May 5, 2023, WHO announced
COVID-19 no longer constitutes a public health emergency of international
concern after more than three years of declaring the outbreak to be a PHEIC in
January 2020, about six weeks before characterising it as a pandemic.
The DG said adding that there had been more than 87,000
cases of Mpox, with 140 deaths worldwide reported to the organisation from 111
different countries.
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