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CTV
After years of the mpox virus' spread throughout the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the World Health Organization (WHO) has declared it a public health emergency of international concern.
After years of the mpox virus' spread throughout the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the World Health Organization (WHO) has declared it a public health emergency of international concern.
The declaration follows the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention stating that an increase in the spread of mpox – formally known as monkeypox – in the continent is a health emergency. It has since spread across borders, primarily countries neighbouring the DRC.
There have been more than 14,500 confirmed cases in the DRC and about 2,800 infected people, according to the latest data for 2024, and 517 people have died from the virus.
While the outbreak itself has been going on in the region for a decade, the clade of the virus that's circulating in the DRC has made it more transmissible and fatal, especially for children under the age of 15, infectious disease specialist for the Brant Community Health Care System in Ontario Dr. Dale Kalina said.
Speaking to CTV News Channel on Wednesday, Kalina said that mpox's recent spread could represent a global public health crisis.
In addition, Kalina said the DRC's health-care system is "collapsed," making it harder to put proper prevention and control measures in place.
"That's how it escapes and that's how it gets much worse," he said.
