Mpox no longer a global health emergency: WHO

"Mpox no longer a global health emergency: WHO" , The current announcement comes nearly a year after the disease known as monkeypox began to spread across the world.

But Mpox continues in Africa. Monkeypox virus, which causes Mpox in humans, was first identified in 1970 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Until a year ago, its spread among humans was largely limited to a few West and Central African countries, with local spread thought to be due to the virus increasingly reaching humans from small animals.

🚨 BREAKING 🚨

"I have accepted that advice, and am pleased to declare that #mpox is no longer a global health emergency"-@DrTedros https://t.co/MAZi0HgFjq pic.twitter.com/fuBQDwrdhX

— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) May 11, 2023

Following the drop in the number of cases, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in an online press conference that he was happy to announce that he had taken the high-level advice of the UN agency's Emergency Committee on Mpox.

Covid is no longer a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC). Although the mpox and covid-19 emergencies have ended, the threat of resurgent waves remains for both. "Both viruses continue to spread and both continue to kill," Tedros said.

"Mpox continues to pose a public health challenge that requires a strong, proactive and sustained response," he added, calling on countries to remain vigilant.

Although it has long been present in parts of central and western Africa, cases of Mpox began to emerge in May last year in Europe, North America, and later elsewhere, mostly among men who have sex with men.

WHO declared Mpox a PHEIC in July. But the number of people affected by the disease - which causes fever, muscle aches and large boil-like skin lesions - has since fallen steadily.

More than 87,000 cases and 140 deaths have been reported from 111 countries, according to the World Health Organization. But 90% fewer cases have been recorded in the last three months than in the previous three months, Tedros said.

While we welcome the downward trend in Mpox cases globally, the virus continues to infect other regions and communities in Africa,

After removing the status for covid and Mpox, a WHO-alert now stands only for poliovirus, which was announced in May 2014.