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As a new strain of Mpox virus spreads to more African countries, World Health Organisation (WHO) director-general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has indicated intentions to call a special meeting to discuss the issue.

“I am considering convening an International Health Regulations Emergency Committee to advise me on whether the outbreak of mpox should be declared a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC),” he said on X on August 4.

Dr Tedros added that the WHO, Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), local governments and partners are “further scaling up the response to interrupt disease transmission. But more funding and support for a comprehensive response are needed.”

This comes barely a week after Uganda’s Ministry of Health said they found two people in Kasese District infected with Mpox. The ministry said the infections were imported from the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which has been struggling with the disease for decades.

Mpox, also known as monkey pox, is a viral disease that can manifest with skin rash which can last up to four weeks; fever, general weakness, sore throat, headache, muscle pain, back pain, and swollen lymph nodes. But it is not as infectious as Covid-19, according to scientists.

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