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STORY: "The situation constitutes a public health emergency of international concern..."
The World Health Organization on Wednesday declared mpox a global public health emergency for the second time in two years.
The alert comes after an outbreak of the viral infection in the Democratic Republic of Congo spread to neighboring countries.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus:
"The detection and rapid spread of a new clade of mpox in eastern DRC, its detection in neighboring countries that had not previously reported mpox, and the potential for further spread within Africa and beyond is very worrying. // It's clear that a coordinated international response is essential to stop these outbreaks and save lives."
Mpox - which is usually mild - can spread through close contact and in rare cases be fatal.
It causes flu-like symptoms and pus-filled lesions on the body.
The outbreak in the Congo began with the spread of an endemic strain, known as clade I. But a new variant, clade Ib, appears to spread more easily through routine close contact, including sexual contact.
It has spread from Congo to neighboring countries, including Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda, triggering the action from the WHO.
Tedros said on Wednesday that the WHO had released $1.5 million in contingency funds and plans to release more in the coming days.
WHO's response plan would require an initial $15 million, and the agency plans to appeal to donors for funding.
