By For the second time, the World Health Organization has declared that mpox, formerly called monkeypox, is a global health emergency.
In 2022, global spread of the virus, which causes rashes, fevers, muscle aches and other symptoms, led to the first emergency declaration (SN: 7/22/22). That version of the virus, called clade II, is still causing a small number of cases around the world, including in the United States.
Even as clade II cases declined globally, infections with clade I mpox shot up in Congo. Nevertheless, the first mpox emergency ended in 2023. The sometimes deadly clade I virus has now spread to previously unaffected countries in Africa and reported cases have surged beyond levels seen in 2022 or 2023. Children have been particularly hard hit.
