CARPHA Urges Vigilance Amid WHO Declaration of Mpox as a Public Health Emergency

The declaration came as an upsurge of infections by the virus was recorded in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and a growing number of countries in Africa.

The Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) is urging regional governments and their health ministries to exercise extreme vigilance, following the declaration of Mpox as a “public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) on August 14, by the World Health Organization (WHO).

According to CARPHA, a PHEIC designation is the highest level of global alert, and recognizes the potential threat the Mpox virus poses to countries around the world.

“This the second declaration in two years of a PHEIC relating to Mpox,” CARPHA said in a statement. “This current outbreak of Mpox is caused by clade I, which is more transmissible and causes more severe illness. Clade II was responsible for an outbreak that WHO declared to be a global health emergency from July 2022 to May 2023.”

CARPHA reports that at present, no cases of clade 1b mpox have been reported in the Caribbean and its neighbouring countries including the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and Latin America. It notes that there is also a limited number of travellers and no direct commercial flights from the Democratic Republic of Congo, or its neighbouring countries to the Caribbean.

CARPHA’s Ad Interim Executive Director, Dr Lisa Indar, says the agency “is monitoring the situation closely.”

“The current risk to Caribbean populations from mpox clade 1b is low to moderate, as no cases of mpox have been identified in the CARPHA Member States. However,” she cautioned, “the identification of the first case of clade 1b outside of Africa, is a warning call for public health authorities to be vigilant and necessitates enhanced surveillance by all Caribbean countries, inclusive of monitoring of incoming passengers, and rapid/early identification of potential cases, and a well-coordinated regional and international response.”

Mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, is a viral disease that can spread easily between people and from infected animals. It can spread through direct contact with bodily fluids, such as during sex, and through contaminated materials like sheets, and clothing used by an infected person. Common symptoms of mpox are a skin rash or mucosal lesions which can last 2–4 weeks accompanied by fever, headache, muscle aches, back pain, low energy, and swollen lymph nodes.

Currently, two mpox vaccines have been approved by the WHO-listed national regulatory authorities and the process has been started for Emergency Use Listing which improves the capacity for vaccine distribution to low-resourced areas and countries.