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The WHO Declaration of Monkeypox as a Global Public Health Emergency

To identify the key insights or developments described in this article
1 Credit CME

On July 23, 2022, World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, PhD, declared the current monkeypox outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC), overriding the WHO Emergency Committee, which decided 6-9 against recommending a PHEIC.1 That decision was justified, with cases in more than 70 countries, most of which are nonendemic, many with no clear epidemiological links and milder nonspecific clinical presentation. The window for controlling monkeypox is closing and a well-funded global plan for containment is needed.

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Article Information

Corresponding Author: Lawrence O. Gostin, JD, O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law, Georgetown University Law Center, 500 First St NW, Office 810, Washington, DC 20001 (gostin@georgetown.edu).

Published Online: July 27, 2022. doi:10.1001/jama.2022.12513

Conflict of Interest Disclosures: Dr Borio reported being a venture partner at Arch Venture Partners, receiving fees from Resilience Corp, and serving on the board for the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, Eagle Pharmaceuticals, and Insulet Corp. No other disclosures were reported.

References
1.
WHO. Second meeting of the International Health Regulations (2005) (IHR) Emergency Committee regarding the multi-country outbreak of monkeypox. July 23, 2022. https://www.who.int/news/item/23-07-2022-second-meeting-of-the-international-health-regulations-(2005)-(ihr)-emergency-committee-regarding-the-multi-country-outbreak-of-monkeypox
2.
Global.health. Monkeypox line list cases. Updated July 22, 2022. Accessed July 25, 2022. https://map.monkeypox.global.health/country
3.
WHO. Multi-country monkeypox outbreak: situation update. June 27, 2022. Accessed July 24, 2022. https://www.who.int/emergencies/disease-outbreak-news/item/2022-DON396
4.
CDC. US map & case count. Updated July 22, 2022. Accessed July 24, 2022. https://www.cdc.gov/poxvirus/monkeypox/response/2022/us-map.html
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Beer  EM , Rao  VB .  A systematic review of the epidemiology of human monkeypox outbreaks and implications for outbreak strategy.   PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2019;13(10):e0007791. PubMedGoogle Scholar
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Thornhill  JP , Barkati  S , Walmsley  S ,  et al.  Monkeypox virus infection in humans across 16 countries: April-June 2022.   N Engl J Med. Published online July 21, 2022. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa2207323PubMedGoogle ScholarCrossref
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Joint ECDC-WHO Regional Office for Europe monkeypox surveillance bulletin. July 20, 2022. https://monkeypoxreport.ecdc.europa.eu/
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UK Health Security Agency. Monkeypox outbreak: epidemiological overview. July 22, 2022. Accessed July 24, 2022. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/monkeypox-outbreak-epidemiological-overview/monkeypox-outbreak-epidemiological-overview-22-july-2022
9.
WHO. Vaccines and immunization for monkeypox: interim guidance 14 June 2022. Accessed July 24, 2022. https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/who-mpx-immunization-2022.1
10.
Adler  H , Gould  S , Hine  P ,  et al.  Clinical features and management of human monkeypox.   Lancet Infect Dis. Published online May 24, 2022. doi:10.1016/S1473-3099(22)00228-6 PubMedGoogle ScholarCrossref
AMA CME Accreditation Information

Credit Designation Statement: The American Medical Association designates this Journal-based CME activity activity for a maximum of 1.00  AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Successful completion of this CME activity, which includes participation in the evaluation component, enables the participant to earn up to:

  • 1.00 Medical Knowledge MOC points in the American Board of Internal Medicine's (ABIM) Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program;;
  • 1.00 Self-Assessment points in the American Board of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery’s (ABOHNS) Continuing Certification program;
  • 1.00 MOC points in the American Board of Pediatrics’ (ABP) Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program;
  • 1.00 Lifelong Learning points in the American Board of Pathology’s (ABPath) Continuing Certification program; and
  • 1.00 CME points in the American Board of Surgery’s (ABS) Continuing Certification program

It is the CME activity provider's responsibility to submit participant completion information to ACCME for the purpose of granting MOC credit.

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