NAIROBI: The African Union's health organization said on Thursday it was “likely” to declare a public health emergency next week over a growing smallpox outbreak on the continent.
The decision will unlock funding to fight the outbreak, including the procurement of much-needed vaccines, and trigger a coordinated continental response to the virus.
Jean Kaseya, head of the African Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), said during a media briefing that the declaration of a public health emergency is “likely” next week.
At least 16 of the continent's 55 countries have been affected by smallpox, according to the African Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
As of January 2022, about 38,465 cases and 1,456 deaths have been reported in Africa.
Of these, 887 cases and five deaths were reported last week, according to the African CDC.
“We're going from two outbreaks a week to three new outbreaks a week,” Kaseya said, adding that the continent is running out of vaccines.
Formerly known as monkeypox, monkeypox is an infectious disease caused by a virus that is transmitted to humans by infected animals, but can also be transmitted from person to person through close physical contact.
The disease causes fever, muscle aches and large boils on the skin.
On Wednesday, the World Health Organization announced the urgent convening of an expert committee to decide whether to declare an outbreak of smallpox in Africa an international emergency.
“The committee will meet as soon as possible and will consist of independent experts from a number of relevant disciplines from around the world,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a press conference.
The committee will advise him on whether the outbreak is a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC), the highest level of alarm the WHO can sound.
Only Tedros, as WHO Director-General, can announce a PHEIC based on the advice of an expert committee. The declaration then triggers an emergency response in countries around the world under the legally binding International Sanitation Regulations.
Mpox was first identified in humans in 1970 in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
There are two subtypes of the virus: the more virulent and deadly Clade I, endemic to the Congo River Basin in central Africa; and Clade II, endemic to West Africa.
In May 2022, mpox infection increased worldwide, mainly affecting gay and bisexual men, due to the Clade IIb subclade.
More deadly and contagious than previous forms, the mpox strain circulating in the DRC since September, known as subclade Clade Ib, spreads from person to person.
The Clade Ib strain causes skin rashes all over the body, unlike other strains where lesions and rashes are usually limited to the mouth, face and genitals.
