Mpox declared public health emergency in Africa as WHO warns 'the time to act is now'

Mpox has been declared a public health emergency in Africa, days after the World Health Organisation (WHO) said 'the time to act is now'.

Scientists from the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) are 'alarmed' by the speed at which the new strain of mpox has been spreading.

The highly infectious disease, which can cause lesions across the whole body, has spread to other African countries, including Burundi, Kenya and Rwanda.

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Since the beginning of this year, more than 13,700 cases and 450 deaths have been recorded in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Last week, Africa CDC reported that mpox as been detected in 10 African countries this year.

Africa CDC head Jean Kaseya warned that the disease could spiral out of control if immediate steps were not taken to tackle the rise in cases, with health chiefs outside of the continent also assessing the risk of the outbreak spreading further.

On it's website, the NHS says mpox spreads via close contact with infected people, including via sex. In 2023 and 2024 (up to May 31) there have been a total of 220 cases of mpox reported in the UK, rising month on month, according to GovUK data.

It comes days after the World Health Organisation (WHO) convened an expert group to determine if the increasing spread of the mpox virus in Africa warrants being declared a global emergency.

WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a press briefing in Geneva that, given the increasing spread of mpox cases beyond Congo, he has decided to ask independent experts to advise WHO 'as soon as possible'.

The director-general said the WHO has released one million dollars