A PHEIC is the highest level of alarm under international health law.
The WHO Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, called for the meeting last Wednesday to seek advice on whether the mpox – previously monkeypox – outbreaks are cause for international concern.
“The Emergency Committee’s advice to me, and that of the [Africa CDC], which yesterday declared a public health emergency of regional security, are aligned,” Tedros said in a post on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter.