Global health emergency is declared by World Health Organization over mpox outbreak in Africa

The World Health Organization (WHO) declared on Wednesday that the outbreak of mpox, formerly called Monkeypox, is a global public health emergency based on an increase in cases and deaths in recent months.

The declaration was announced in Geneva by Tedros Ghebreyesus, the director-general of the United Nations' WHO. He said he was accepting a recommendation from WHO’s emergency committee, according to The Epoch Times.

The WHO also declared an mpox epidemic as a global emergency in 2022, which affected nearly 100,000 people, mainly gay and bisexual men, killing about 200 people in 116 countries, according to The New York Times.

The Democratic Republic of Congo has reported more than 14,000 mpox cases and 524 deaths this year alone, with the people most at risk being women and children under 15.

Earlier in the week, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention declared the mpox outbreak as a public emergency.

There are plans to roll out two different vaccines to help battle the outbreak.