Growing mpox outbreak could spur global emergency, health officials say

Monkeypox patient says she contracted virus at Georgia gas station

FILE - Camille Seaton was one of the first confirmed cases of Monkeypox in Georgia. She spoke with LiveNOW from FOX’s Josh Breslow about her experience battling the virus.

A growing mpox outbreak could become a global emergency in coming weeks as infections and deaths surge in Africa.

The risk to Western countries remains low, but the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention did put out a health alert this week warning doctors and health departments to be on the lookout for travelers with symptoms.

Mpox, also known as monkeypox, spreads via close contact with infected people, including sex. According to The Washington Post, most infections in the current outbreak are likely spreading through contact with infected animals and within households.

Congo accounts for more than 96% of all cases and deaths. Compared with the same time period last year, health officials said cases are up 160% and deaths have jumped by 19%. Nearly 70% of cases in Congo are in children younger than 15, who also accounted for 85% of deaths.

Mpox virus (Photo via Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images)

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Last week, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that mpox has now been detected in 10 African countries, including Kenya and the Ivory Coast, which have never reported outbreaks before.

World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has asked independent experts to advise WHO "as soon as possible" on whether the spread of mpox beyond Congo should be considered a global emergency.

The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will probably declare a health emergency next week, The Post reports.

"This is a major alarm for the world. We are losing the youth in Africa," Jean Kaseya, director general of the Africa CDC, said in a Thursday press briefing. "This new incident demonstrates the need for a collective and collaborative approach in curbing the spread of the disease."

Earlier this year, scientists reported the emergence of a new form of the deadlier version of mpox, which can kill up 10% of people, in a Congolese mining town that they feared might spread more easily among people.

In 2022, WHO declared mpox to be a global emergency after it spread to more than 70 countries, mostly affecting gay and bisexual men. Before that outbreak, the disease had mostly been seen in sporadic epidemics in central and West Africa when people came into contact with infected animals.

Western countries mostly shut down the spread of mpox with the help of vaccines and treatments, but very few of those have been available in Africa.