The World Health Organization will convene an emergency meeting of its Emergency Response Committee next week to determine whether mpox (monkey pox) remains a global health crisis, the organization said in a statement today.
In August the disease, which continues to spread in Africa, was declared an emergency of global public health concern by the WHO, which constitutes the highest level of alert.
This followed the spread of a new strain of the virus, clade Ib, across parts of the continent.
This year, as of November 3, there have been 46.794 confirmed and suspected cases in Africa, including 1.081 deaths, the WHO said in a report released today.
The most affected country is DR Congo, followed by Burundi and Uganda, according to the same source.
Monkey pox (mpox) is spread through close contact. It is usually mild but rarely fatal.
It causes flu-like symptoms and skin rashes. Vaccine doses for the 9 worst-affected African countries were delivered this month.