WHO declares monkeypox a global emergency

On Saturday, the monkeypox virus was officially declared a global public health emergency, months after the virus began spreading in Europe and the US.

In an unusual move, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the head of the World Health Organization, personally intervened to overrule an expert panel that had voted against the decision. Nine members of the panel had voted against the declaration; six had voted for it.

A declaration of a public health emergency from the WHO is important because it paves the way for increased global cooperation to stop the virus, which at this point has now spread to some 75 countries and regions.

The last time the WHO made a similar declaration, of course, was during the early stages of the Covid pandemic back in January 2020.

“We have an outbreak that has spread around the world rapidly through new modes of transmission,” Tedros said during a press briefing in Geneva on Saturday.

Unlike Covid, monkeypox is not an entirely novel virus. It is a cousin of the smallpox virus. It has previously occurred most commonly in developing nations, particularly in Africa. What has raised alarm bells, however, is not just that the virus appears to be rapidly spreading in other regions, but that it appears to possibly be spreading in a new way.

On Friday, US health officials told reporters they’ve been weighing a similar declaration. Tedros said Saturday that the WHO’s assessment is that the risk of monkeypox is moderate in all regions, except in Europe where it is high.

The pathogen typically causes flu-like symptoms, followed by a rash that often starts on the face and spreads down the belly. The illness can last as long as a month. So far, five deaths have been recorded in Africa, the WHO said.

“This is an outbreak that’s concentrated among men who have sex with men, especially those with multiple sexual partners,” Tedros said. “That means that this is an outbreak that can be stopped with the right strategies in the right groups.” — Kristen V. Brown. Bloomberg