WHO: Monkeypox is no longer an international health emergency

Dhe outbreak of the virus disease monkeypox in more than 100 countries is no longer an international health emergency. Because the number of cases reported has dropped significantly worldwide, the World Health Organization (WHO) lifted the state of emergency imposed in July 2022 on Thursday.

The state of emergency is the highest level of alert that the WHO can impose. It alerts governments to threats. Governments decide for themselves which protective measures to introduce. That is why the lifting has no direct consequences. Just last Friday, the WHO lifted the health emergency due to the corona pandemic after more than three years.

However, WHO Director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned against taking monkeypox or Covid-19 lightly: “Both viruses continue to circulate and both cause deaths,” he said. WHO Emergency Relief Coordinator Mike Ryan said in connection with monkeypox: “This can also come back and shock us.” He criticized the fact that not enough money is put into research.

Mpox, as the WHO has been calling the disease for a few months, was practically only known from a few African countries until the beginning of 2022. In the spring, doctors suddenly discovered numerous cases in other countries. The spread of Mpox so shortly after the Corona pandemic led to great fears of a new global health threat. Since the summer, however, the numbers have fallen significantly.

Transmitted by close physical contact

In total, a good 87,000 cases of Mpox infections and 140 deaths from 111 countries have been reported to the WHO since the beginning of 2022 and up to May 9, 2023. Because there are few test options in many places and not everyone affected reports, experts are convinced that the worldwide spread should have started earlier. In her opinion, the true number of infections is also likely to be higher.

The disease is caused by the monkeypox virus. The most noticeable symptom are blisters and pustules on the skin, including in the genital and anal regions. Mpox is transmitted through close physical contact. According to the WHO, men who have sex with men were predominantly affected. There is a vaccination against the disease.

In Germany, almost 3700 Mpox cases and no deaths have been reported to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) since May 2022 (as of May 10th). After a sharp increase, the number of cases fell significantly from August. The vast majority of those infected were men, with less than one percent women, adolescents and children. According to the RKI, no case has been registered since the end of January 2023. However, the RKI warns that the numbers could increase, for example if more events with many participants take place again in spring.

The WHO has declared a public health emergency seven times since 2005. It is correctly called Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC). The longest applies to polio (child paralysis) and has existed since 2014, the second longest was the Corona emergency. It was rescinded on May 5, 2023. The WHO also raised the alarm about the influenza A virus H1N1 (2009-2010), Ebola in West Africa (2014-2016), Zika (2016) and Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (2019-2020).