Overview

• Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus accepted his emergency committee’s advice on September 5 to lift the public health emergency of international concern for mpox.
• The move followed sustained reductions in cases and deaths in the Democratic Republic of the Congo as well as in Burundi, Sierra Leone, and Uganda.
• The WHO chief cautioned that the threat persists and said global surveillance and response efforts will continue, with particular attention to vulnerable groups such as young children and people with HIV.
• The Africa CDC continues to consider mpox a continental emergency, and health authorities warn that fresh flare-ups remain possible and require readiness.
• Mexico reported its first confirmed mpox death in Jalisco and saw a sharp early‑2025 rise in infections, with 189 national cases logged by May 17 versus 18 a year earlier.