WHO declares end to mpox public health emergency
(VOVWORLD) - The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday it was ending a 10-month-long global health emergency for mpox, a viral disease that led to confirmed cases in more than a hundred countries.
 A vial containing the mpox vaccine and a syringe is set on the table at a vaccination clinic run by the Mecklenburg County Public Health Department in Charlotte, North Carolina, US. (Photo: AP) |
The move signals that the crisis due to mpox, which spreads through direct contact with body fluids and causes flu-like symptoms and pus-filled skin lesions, has come under control.
Nicola Low, vice chair of the WHO’s emergency committee on mpox, said there was a need to move to a strategy for managing the long-term public health risks of mpox than to rely on emergency measures.
More than 87,000 mpox cases have been confirmed globally from the beginning of last year through May 8 this year, according to the WHO’s latest report.