A new global health emergency: What is mpox, where are the outbreaks and will the virus spread?

AP Medical Writer

LONDON (AP) — The World Health Organization has declared the increasing spread of mpox in Africa a global health emergency, warning the virus might ultimately spill across international borders. The announcement came Wednesday after a meeting of the U.N. health agency’s emergency committee. The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention declared mpox a public health emergency on the continent a day earlier. WHO says there are more than 14,000 cases in Africa. So far, more than 96% of all cases and deaths are in a single country: Congo. Scientists are concerned by the spread of a new version of the disease there that might be more easily transmitted among people.