Mpox virus particles depicted in an electron microscopic image. (Photo:AFP)

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on social media platform X that the WHO, Africa CDC, local governments, and partners are scaling up their response to interrupt disease transmission.

Formerly known as monkeypox, mpox is an infectious disease caused by a virus transmitted to humans by infected animals that can also be passed from human to human through close physical contact. Mpox was first discovered in humans in 1970 in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

A global mpox outbreak two years ago led the WHO to declare a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, which lasted from July 2022 to May 2023.