WHO Says Mpox Is Still A Health Emergency

Reuters (2/27, Rigby, Meenaktshi) reports the World Health Organization said Thursday that the mpox outbreak remains a public health emergency. The WHO “said its decision was based on the continuing rise in the number of mpox cases and the geographic spread of the outbreak. The agency added that violence in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, which has hampered its response plan, was also a factor.” According to the WHO, there have been more than 21,000 global cases “confirmed by laboratory testing since the beginning of 2024, including 70 deaths, mainly in Congo.” There were also “more than 50,000 suspected cases” last year, “and more than 1,000 deaths.”