GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the monkeypox outbreak in Africa a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) on Wednesday, August 14th, 2024. This is the highest level of alert the organization can issue.

"Today, the Emergency Committee met and advised me that, in their view, the event constitutes a Public Health Emergency of International Concern," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced at a press conference. "I have accepted this advice."

"This is a matter that should concern us all," he added. "WHO is committed to coordinating the international response in the days and weeks ahead, working closely with affected countries, mobilizing on the ground to prevent transmission, treat those affected, and save lives."

The decision comes after the African Union's health body declared a public health emergency due to the monkeypox (Mpox) outbreak on Tuesday.

The disease is endemic in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where the virus was first discovered in humans in 1970, and has spread to other countries.

Tedros noted that the number of cases, exceeding 14,000, and deaths (524) recorded so far this year in the Democratic Republic of Congo surpassed the total recorded last year.

"The emergence and rapid spread of the 1B clade [of the virus] in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which appears to be spreading particularly through sexual networks, and its detection in countries neighboring the Democratic Republic of Congo is very worrying and among the main reasons behind my decision to convene this Emergency Committee meeting," he said at the start of the committee meeting.

He continued, "Over the past month, about 90 cases of the 1B clade have been recorded in four countries neighboring the Democratic Republic of Congo that have not recorded Mpox cases in the past: Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda."