Mpox is no longer a global health emergency, says WHO

The World Health Organization has said mpox is no longer a public health emergency, as it praised the work of community groups and pharmaceutical companies in stemming the spread of the infectious disease formerly known as monkeypox.

The WHO had declared mpox, which peaked globally last summer, a public health emergency of international concern or PHEIC last July. It said on Thursday that it had received reports of more than 87,000 cases and 140 deaths from 111 countries. Most cases have been concentrated among men who have sex with men.

The WHO renamed the disease, which was first identified in captive monkeys, mpox in November in an attempt to tackle stigma and avoid discriminatory associations.

“While stigma has been a driving concern in managing this epidemic, the fierce backlash against most affected communities has largely not materialised,” said WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, noting lessons learned from the clinical management of HIV/Aids.

“While we welcome the downward trend [in case numbers], the virus continues to affect communities in all regions, including in Africa, where transmission is still not well understood.”

Tedros also praised community organisations and pharmaceutical companies for facilitating access to tests and drugs. Last year, large parts of the world grappled with severe shortages of an mpox vaccine that is manufactured solely by Denmark’s Bavarian Nordic. The Financial Times reported that the drugmaker had been selling the jab for between $70 and more than $300 per dose.

Rosamund Lewis, the WHO’s technical lead for the disease, said there continued to be a close focus on transmission in some parts of Europe, such as the UK and Spain, as well as in Latin America, Africa, the US and Western Pacific countries.

Mpox had, before last year, been largely a neglected disease that was endemic in sub-Saharan Africa, with sporadic cases exported to other regions. The disease causes fevers, skin lesions and the swelling of lymph nodes and can require hospital care in badly affected patients. It can be more severe in patients with uncontrolled HIV, and is spread through close contact.

Lewis said the clade or viral subvariant at the centre of the outbreak last year originated in west Africa, but said it was still not clear how it had jumped from a “possible” animal source to transmit between humans. While mpox is traditionally a zoonotic, or animal-to-human, disease, this clade has so far been recorded in only human-to-human transmissions.

Last week, the UN’s health body declared an end to the acute phase of the Covid-19 pandemic, after at least 20mn deaths attributed to the virus. The only other disease currently recognised as a PHEIC is polio.