• mpox virus
  1. Home
  2. Mpox outbreak

Mpox outbreak

Situation in the Region of the Americas

On 14 August 2024, WHO Director-General declared that the upsurge of mpox in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and a growing number of countries in Africa, constitutes a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) under the International Health Regulations (2005) (IHR). The emergence and rapid spread of the new clade 1b virus strain in the DRC, its detection in neighboring countries, and the potential for further spread within Africa and beyond the continent, were significant factors in the declaration of the PHEIC.

This is the second PHEIC determination related to mpox within the past two years. On July 2022, a multi-country outbreak of mpox was declared a PHEIC due to its rapid global spread across multiple as it spread rapidly across a range of countries where the virus had not been seen before. That PHEIC was declared over in May 2023 after a sustained decline in global cases. 

PAHO's response

The Pan American Health Organization / World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) supports the Member States with surveillance, preparedness, and outbreak response activities for mpox in affected countries.

Given the occurrence of cases of mpox in countries within and outside of the Region of the Americas, PAHO activated its standard emergency procedures (SEPs) and established an incident management team with the active participation of personnel from over 15 entities of PAHO/HQ to ensure a timely response to the outbreak and lead preparedness efforts in the Member States. Moreover, PAHO was the first WHO region to make vaccines available to countries in the region as part of the emergency response to the Mpox outbreak. First shipments were prioritized according to the epidemiological situation reported by the countries.

The response is currently focused on four main pillars. For the most up-to-date information read the latest situation report.

Response pillars:
 

1. 

Communication and engagement of at-risk communities. 

2. 

Timely detection and treatment of patients and protection of health workers. 

3. 

Laboratory confirmation, surveillance, and containment of transmission chains.

4. 

 Securing access to critical health supplies.

 

Plataforma clínica de la OMS sobre viruela símica

Explore the WHO Global Clinical platform for mpox and access data for public health response.

ACCEss

Opciones terapéuticas para la viruela símica

Therapeutic options for mpox: evidence synthesis. Rapid review, September 2022 (Available in Spanish)

DOWNLOAD

Information on mpox changes rapidly as more data becomes available.
For the most up-to-date information visit this website frequently.

Documents

All

Communications Materials

All