The monkeypox outbreak is a public health emergency of international concern, the head of the World Health Organization said, overruling a divided expert panel to issue the group’s highest alert.
The move paves the way for stepped-up global cooperation to stop the virus, which has spread to dozens of countries. The last time the WHO made a similar declaration was during the early stages of the COVID-19 outbreak in January 2020.
U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra called the WHO decision “a call to action for the global health community.” President Joe Biden’s administration has made vaccines, testing and treatments available and is “determined to accelerate our response in the days ahead,” he said in a statement.
