In view of the spread of monkeypox virus outside the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the potential risk of further spread within and outside Africa and beyond, WHO convened an Emergency Committee under the International Health Regulations.

A serious monkeypox outbreak has occurred in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with more than 14,000 cases reported. Neighboring Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda have reported about 50 confirmed cases and more suspected cases. Monkeypox is an infectious disease caused by the monkeypox virus, which is prevalent in densely forested areas of West Africa, Central Africa, and East Africa.

There are two different variants of the virus: variant I and variant II. Variant I outbreaks are more deadly than variant II outbreaks. The monkeypox virus involved in the current outbreak is the type 1b variant virus, which has a higher mortality rate than the previously prevalent monkeypox virus.

The 1b variant has been confirmed in Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda, and cases of variant 1a have also been reported in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic, and the Republic of the Congo this year, while cases of variant 2 have been reported in Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Liberia, Nigeria, and South Africa.

In May 2022, the monkeypox epidemic suddenly appeared and spread rapidly to Europe, the Americas, and then to all six WHO regions, with 110 countries reporting about 87,000 cases and 112 deaths.

Response actions:

• Option 1: Stopping transmission is the key to responding to the spread of the epidemic in Africa: To this end, it can be considered to use Monkeypox Virus Antigen Rapid Test for rapid screening in community centers, clinics, schools, non-governmental organizations, civil society, etc., which is easy to operate and does not require high equipment costs. Sample collection can be more flexible, such as human serum, plasma, whole blood, throat swab, saliva, lesion exudate, or scab samples, and accurately test positive or negative.

  
  

• Option 2: Hospitals, disease control centers, laboratories, and other government medical areas have been equipped with real-time PCR systems in the epidemic area. No need to purchase equipment, provide Monkeypox Virus Real-time PCR kit (open reagent kit); high sensitivity, high specificity, accurate diagnosis of virus identity, lower cost-effectiveness.