WHO says mpox no longer a global public health emergency

The spread of mpox (monkeypox) in Africa no longer represents a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC), said the World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday.

WHO's Emergency Committee has met every three months to evaluate the outbreak of mpox. WHO Director-General said, "this decision is based on sustained declines in cases and deaths in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and in other affected countries including Burundi, Sierra Leone, and Uganda".

Since May 2022, over 100 countries and regions worldwide have reported cases of mpox. The WHO officially declared in August last year that the mpox outbreak outside the traditional endemic areas in Africa had already turned into a PHEIC, the highest level of alert that the global health authority could issue.