WHO maintains mpox alert amid West Africa surge

A patient infected with mpox shows lesions on his body at the treatment centre in Kamituga, South Kivu province in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo on September 20, 2024. [AFP)]

The World Health Organisation said Monday that the mpox virus epidemic remains an international health emergency with more than 37,000 confirmed cases reported since it erupted.

WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced the extension of the emergency following a meeting of international experts who noted progress in some countries but also highlighted a surge in west Africa and the spread of the virus outside Africa.